Preparing for a larger global population

World population has increased by 2 billion people over the past 25 years, from 5.3 billion in 1990 to 7.3 billion in 2015. Although population growth rates have slowed, the world’s population is still growing by an additional 81 million people per year. By 2030, the target year for the achievement of the post-2015 development agenda, the global economy will need to support approximately 8.4 billion people (see table 1). With the exception of Europe, where total population is projected to decrease by slightly less than 1 per cent by 2030, all other regions are projected to grow by at least 10 per cent over the next 15 years. Africa, long the poorest and least developed continent, will account for more than 40 per cent of the absolute increase in population so that, by 2030, the region will account for nearly one fifth of the world’s total population.

Related Subject(s): Population and Demography