World population to reach 8 billion this year; India to replace China as most populated: UN

The United Nations has forcasted that the world population will reach 8 billion around November 15.

The projection revealed in UN World Population Prospectus 2022 stated that the world population is growing at its slowest since 1950, having fallen to less than 1 per cent in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which affected global life expectancy at birth, dropping to 71 years in 2021 from 72.9 in 2019.

The report further stated that India will replace China as the world's most populous country by the year 2023.

Over half of the projected increase in population by 2050 will be focused in eight countries namely India, Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and Tanzania, the report added.

The latest UN projection also estimated that the world population will reach around 8.5 billion in 2030 and 9.7 billion in 2050, and will cross 10 billion during the 2080s.

Meanwhile, study suggests that population growth and deepening climate crisis will have global consequences on public health.

(With inputs from UN report)

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