By Tonny Abet
Global population is projected to hit 8 billion this year amid rising hunger levels, the United Nations (UN) announced ahead of today’s World Population Day.
The global population reached the 7 billion mark in 2011, and it was at 7.9 billion in 2021, with the expectation that it will swell further to around 8.5 billion in 2030, 9.7 billion in 2050, and 10.9 billion in 2100, according to the UN.
“Reaching a global population of eight billion is a numerical landmark, but our focus must always be on people. In the world we strive to build, 8 billion people means 8 billion opportunities to live dignified and fulfilled lives,” Mr António Guterres, the UN Secretary-General, said in a statement.
The UN in the statement attributed the dramatic growth in population to increasing numbers of people surviving to reproductive age, major changes in fertility rates, increasing urbanisation and accelerating migration.
“These trends will have far-reaching implications for generations to come. The recent past has seen enormous changes in fertility rates and life expectancy. In the early 1970s, women had on average 4.5 children each; by 2015, total fertility for the world had fallen to below 2.5 children per woman,” the UN statement reads.
