According to the United Nations report, the global population of humans has reached and perhaps crossed the billion mark. This is exactly double the figures for 1974. In 1974, the global population was 4 billion. In just 48 years span, the global population has doubled.
However, experts say that the population will never get doubled in the next few decades to come. Normally, the rise in population has some aspects like the death rate and life span. The rise in population has also increased the median age span to 30.5 years. The global median age in 1974 was 20.6 years.
The global media age divides the global population into two equal parts. Half the population is younger than 22 years while the other half is older than 22 years.
In an official statement, the UN said –
This unprecedented growth is due to the gradual increase in human lifespan owing to improvements in public health, nutrition, personal hygiene and medicine. It is also the result of high and persistent levels of fertility in some countries,
While it took the global population 12 years to grow from 7 to 8 billion, it will take approximately 15 years—until 2037— for it to reach 9 billion, a sign that the overall growth rate of the global population is slowing,
The UN projects that the current life expectancy will rise to 77.2 years by 2050. Earlier, the average lifespan was 63 years as per the 1990 census. It is to remember that the UN in 2019 stated that global life expectancy was 72.8 years.
Also, it is projected that the global population will cross the 10 billion mark before the year 2100. But the rise will not continue forever within this century. As a matter of fact, it took 12 years for the global population to climb from 7 billion to 8 billion. As per some reports of the UN, it will take at least 15 years to reach the 9 billion mark.
The population explosion will also cease at some point in this century. The African continent will see a rise in population. Apparently, Asia will no longer remain the population growth engine of the world. India is on course to pip China as the most populous in 2023.