India projected to surpass China as world's most populous country: UN report

India is projected to surpass China as the worlds most populous country next year according to a report by the United Nations on Monday which said that the world population is forecast to reach eight billion by midNovember 2022The World Population Prospects 2022 by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs Population Division said that the global population is projected to reach eight billion on November 15 2022The global population is growing at its slowest rate since 1950 having fallen under one per cent in 2020The latest projections by the United Nations suggest that the worlds population could grow to around 85 billion in 2030 and 97 billion in 2050It is projected to reach a peak of around 104 billion people during the 2080s and to remain at that level until 2100This years World Population Day July 11 falls during a milestone year when we anticipate the birth of the Earths eight billionth inhabitant This is an occasion to celebrate our diversity recognise our common humanity and marvel at advancements in health that have extended lifespans and dramatically reduced maternal and child mortality rates UN SecretaryGeneral Antoacutenio Guterres saidAt the same time it is a reminder of our shared responsibility to care for our planet and a moment to reflect on where we still fall short of our commitments to one another he addedThe report said that India is projected to surpass China as the worlds most populous country during 2023The worlds two most populous regions in 2022 were Eastern and SouthEastern Asia with 23 billion people representing 29 per cent of the global population and Central and Southern Asia with 21 billion representing 26 per cent of the total world populationChina and India accounted for the largest populations in these regions with more than 14 billion each in 2022More than half of the projected increase in global population up to 2050 will be concentrated in just eight countries of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Egypt Ethiopia India Nigeria Pakistan the Philippines and TanzaniaDisparate population growth rates among the worlds largest countries will change their ranking by size for example India is projected to surpass China as the worlds most populous country in 2023 the report saidAccording to the report Indias population stands at 1412 billion in 2022 compared to Chinas 1426 billionIndia which will surpass China as the worlds most populous nation by 2023 is projected to have a population of 1668 billion in 2050 way ahead of Chinas 1317 billion people by the middle of the centuryThe report added that it is estimated that ten countries experienced a net outflow of more than 1 million migrants between 2010 and 2021In many of these countries these outflows were due to temporary labour movements such as for Pakistan net outflow of 165 million during 20102021 India 35 million Bangladesh 29 million Nepal 16 million and Sri Lanka 1 millionIn other countries including the Syrian Arab Republic 46 million Venezuela Bolivarian Republic of 48 million and Myanmar 1 million insecurity and conflicts have driven the net outflow of migrants over the decadeGlobal life expectancy at birth reached 728 years in 2019 an improvement of almost 9 years since 1990 Further reductions in mortality are projected to result in an average global longevity of around 772 years in 2050Yet in 2021 life expectancy for the least developed countries lagged 7 years behind the global averageAlternative longterm population projections have also been undertaken by the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation IHMEIn its recent projections IHME projected that the global population will reach 88 billion in 2100 with a range of 68 billion to 118 billionThe main difference between the projections released by IHME and the United Nations lies in the assumptions on the future level of fertilityThe report said that IHME projects that the global level of fertility will decline faster than under the United Nations medium scenarioAccording to IHME the average number of children per woman will decline to 166 children at the end of the century while the United Nations projects fertility to be around 184 at the same dateIn India IHME projects a total fertility rate of 129 births per woman in 2100 instead of 169 in the United Nations medium scenario resulting in a population that is 433 million smaller than according to the United Nations projections at the end of the centuryThe share of the global population at ages 65 and above is projected to rise from 10 per cent in 2022 to 16 per cent in 2050At that point it is expected that the number of persons aged 65 years or over worldwide will be more than twice the number of children under age 5 and about the same as the number under age 12Countries with ageing populations should take steps to adapt public programmes to the growing numbers of older persons including by establishing universal health care and longterm care systems and by improving the sustainability of social security and pension systems it saidThe report noted that the COVID19 pandemic has affected all three components of population change Global life expectancy at birth fell to 710 years in 2021In some countries successive waves of the pandemic may have produced shortterm reductions in numbers of pregnancies and births while for many other countries there is little evidence of an impact on fertility levels or trends The pandemic severely restricted all forms of human mobility including international migrationThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever