World Population to Exceed 9 Billion by 2050, New U.N. Estimate Says

The United Nations Population Division now projects that world population will exceed 9 billion people in 2050, a 50 percent increase from the 6.7 billion people on earth today. The U.N. revised its estimate upward because of lengthening life spans, a slower than expected decline in fertility in the developing world, and the success of HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment programs, particularly in Africa. The report said that declines in fertility are not occurring as rapidly as expected because many poor countries still lack effective programs to distribute contraceptives and provide reproductive information. The vast majority of the population growth will occur in the world’s poorest countries and the U.N. report said that if fertility rates are not significantly lowered in the developing world, global population by mid-century could exceed 10 billion. The report said that India now has a higher population density than Japan and that for the first time the number of people in Africa exceeds 1 billion.