NEW YORK (AFP) – Earth’s population will peak in the mid-2080s at around 10.3 billion people, then drop slightly to a level much lower than anticipated a decade ago, the United Nations said. The current population of 8.2 billion people will rise to that maximum over the next 60 years, then dip to 10.2 billion by the end of the century, says a report released Thursday entitled “World Population Prospects 2024.” It said the size […]
Tag: population
Elderly living alone to make up a fifth of Japanese households by 2025: study
TOKYO, April 12, 2024 (AFP) – One in five Japanese households by 2050 will be elderly people living alone, a new study said Friday, as Japan scrambles to find how to effectively care for its greying population. By 2050, 10.8 million elderly people will be living alone, making up 20.6 percent of all households, the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research said in a projection that it issues every five years. It marks […]
Indian clock tells story of most populous nation
By Glenda KWEK Agence France-Presse MUMBAI, June 26, 2023 (AFP) — India’s first population clock, made up of 10 white numbered cards on a large green metal board, attracts curious passersby who watch it record the story of the world’s most populous nation. The clock — manually updated every day according to projected estimates and akin to a cricket scoreboard in appearance — was first erected in 1982 when India was home to more than […]
10 billion global population ‘unsustainable’: US climate envoy Kerry
OSLO, Norway, June 7, 2023 (AFP) — US special climate envoy John Kerry told AFP that the world’s population will not be tenable in 2050, when it is projected to hit nearly 10 billion, but refrained from asking Americans to give up steaks. Since November, the global population has officially crossed eight billion, more than three times the figure in 1950. This has already stretched food and energy needs and supplies. UN projections say the […]
Saudi population up by a third since 2010: census
RIYADH, May 31, 2023 (AFP) – Saudi Arabia’s population has grown by more than one third since 2010, and a majority of the kingdom’s nationals are aged under 30, according to a census published Wednesday. The 2022 Saudi census marks the “most comprehensive and precise population survey conducted in the Kingdom’s history,” the General Authority of Statistics said. It set the total population of the oil-rich country at 32.2 million. Of these, 58.4 per cent […]
China’s elders savor twilight years as the young toil
By Peter CATTERALL Agence France-Presse RUDONG, China (AFP) — At the end of a back alley surrounded by dilapidated buildings, the pitter-patter of ping-pong balls echoes around a cavernous warehouse in a Chinese town north of Shanghai. The members of this table tennis club in Rudong, a sleepy seaside county with one of the highest proportions of elderly residents in China, gather to exercise and catch up. Rudong once played a pioneering role in […]
Dead rivers, flaming lakes: India’s sewage failure
By Simon STURDEE Agence France-Presse NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — Mohammed Azhar holds his baby niece next to a storm drain full of plastic and stinking black sludge, testament to India’s failure to treat nearly two-thirds of its urban sewage. “We stay inside our homes. We fall sick if we go out,” the 21-year-old told AFP in the Delhi neighborhood of Seelampur, where open gutters packed with plastic and sickly greyish water flow alongside […]
India population to surpass China mid-year: UN estimates
NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — India is set to overtake China as the world’s most populous country by mid-year with almost three million more people, UN estimates showed on Wednesday. India’s population will be 1.4286 billion compared to China’s 1.4257 billion at mid-year, the United Nations Population Fund’s State of World Population report showed. China’s population shrank last year for the first time in more than six decades, official data showed earlier this year. The […]
China’s Sichuan to scrap three-child limit as birth rates drop
Southwest China’s Sichuan province will lift its three-child birth limit and remove restrictions on single parents as the world’s most populous nation faces a looming demographic crisis. China’s population shrank last year for the first time in more than six decades, official data released this month showed, and the nation of 1.4 billion has seen birth rates plunge to record lows as its workforce ages. China ended its strict “one-child policy” — imposed in […]
China population shrinks for first time in over 60 years
by Ludovic EHRET Agence France-Presse BEIJING, China (AFP) — China’s population shrank last year for the first time in more than six decades, official data showed Tuesday, as the world’s most populous nation faces a looming demographic crisis. The nation of 1.4 billion has seen birth rates plunge to record lows as its workforce ages, in a rapid decline that analysts warn could stymie economic growth and pile pressure on strained public coffers. The population […]
Humanity hits the eight billion mark
UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) — A baby born somewhere on Tuesday will be the world’s eight billionth person, according to a projection by the United Nations. “The milestone is an occasion to celebrate diversity and advancements while considering humanity’s shared responsibility for the planet,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement. The UN attributes the growth to human development, with people living longer thanks to improvements in public health, nutrition, personal hygiene and […]
World population at 8 billion humans — and still growing
United Nations, United States | AFP | by Amélie BOTTOLLIER-DEPOIS The United Nations estimates that the global human population will reach eight billion by mid-November, and will continue to grow, albeit at a slower pace and with regional disparities, in the decades to come. Here are some key takeaways from the UN analysis: – Population growth slowdown – The UN Population Division estimates that the number of humans on Earth will grow to eight […]





