"Although population growth has slowed for the world as a whole, this report reminds us that some developing countries, especially in Africa, are still growing rapidly," said the Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, Wu Hongbo. The report, 'World Population Prospects: the 2012 Revision', notes that the population of developed regions will remain largely unchanged at around 1.3 billion from now until 2050.u00a0

In contrast, the 49 least developed countries are projected to double in size from around 900 million people in 2013 to 1.8 billion in 2050. Compared to previous assessments of world population trends, the new projected total population is higher, mainly due to new information obtained on fertility levels of certain countries.