That overall population milestone “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,” Secretary General Antonio Guterres reporoted, without citing specifics.

“This is an occasion to celebrate our diversity, recognize our common humanity, and marvel at advancements in health that have extended lifespans and dramatically reduced maternal and child mortality rates,” he said.

“World Population Prospects 2020,” a report was published on World Population Day include:

• The world’s population is projected to reach 8 billion on 15 November 2022
• Global population could grow to around 8.5 billion in 2030, 9.7 billion in 2050 and 10.4 billion in 2100.
• Life expectancy at birth for women exceeded that for men by 5.4 years globally, with female and male life expectancies standing at 73.8 and 68.4, respectively
• More than half of the projected increase in global population up to 2050 will be concentrated in just eight countries: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and the United Republic of Tanzania
• India is projected to surpass China as the world’s most populous country during 2023.
• The share of the global population aged 65 years or above is projected to rise from 10 per cent in 2022 to 16 per cent in 2050.
• Total fertility has fallen markedly in recent decades for many countries. Today, two-thirds of the global population lives in a country or area where fertility is below 2.1 births per woman

The forecast by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, which was responsible for the report, asserted the world’s population is growing at its slowest pace since 1950.

It should reach 8.5 billion in 2030 and 9.7 billion in 2050, peaking at around 10.4 billion people in the 2080s before steadying at that level until 2100.

While a net fall in birth rates is observed in many developing countries, more than half of the rise forecast in the world’s population in the coming decades will be concentrated in eight countries, the report added.

It clarified they are the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and Tanzania.

Nigeria third?

Humanitarian activists such as Alain Boinet, founder of the French NGO Solidarités Internationale, warned that “Africa, and in the Sahel in particular” constitute a “demographic bomb.”

“In 1950, there were 2.5 billion human beings on earth, 229 million of them in Africa…we will be about 10 billion, including 2.5 billion in Africa in 2050,” he warned in a 2019 article, singling out Nigeria as “the most eloquent example by far:” by 2050 the country will have 401 million inhabitants and become “the third most populous country in the world behind India and China.”

He said that a characteristic of the country’s demography is “the youthfulness of its population: 50 percent were under 15 years old in 2017. This is seen both as an economic strength and as a danger, given the structural deficit in public services and the security problems”.