Science & Technology

World's population to reach 11bn by 2100

By T.K. Randall
September 19, 2014 ·  76 comments

There are no indications that population growth is slowing down. Image Credit: CC BY 2.0 Guillaume The study, which was conducted by an international team of experts, used new techniques and statistics to provide an accurate prediction of future population growth across the globe.

The groundbreaking results are in contrast to previous estimates that suggested the population would peak at 9bn in 2050.

There is now a 70% chance that by the beginning of the 22nd century the world's population could have risen to 11 billion."The previous projections said this problem was going to go away so it took the focus off the population issue," said Prof Adrian Raftery. "There is now a strong argument that population should return to the top of the international agenda. Population is the driver of just about everything else and rapid population growth can exacerbate all kinds of challenges."

Some of those challenges include food and water shortages, healthcare, housing and pollution.

Much of the growth is expected to occur in Sub-saharan Africa where the population is expected to rise by at least 2.5 billion before the century is out.

Source: The Guardian | Comments (76)

Tags: Population