Status: 07/11/2022 08:16 a.m
According to the United Nations, eight billion people will be living on earth in November. The birth rate is therefore still high, especially in the Global South. Overall, however, the number of people is growing more slowly.
The number of people on Earth is growing at a slower pace, according to a new UN report. “In 2020, the world population growth rate will have fallen below 1 percent per year for the first time since 1950,” the United Nations said in a new report marking World Population Day.
Population growth is currently only 0.8 percent, according to the German Foundation for World Population (DSW), citing UN data. Because of the corona pandemic, life expectancy also fell to 71 years in 2021 – in 2019 it was 72.8 years.
Eight billion mark falls in November
According to the foundation, however, the data do not mean a trend reversal in terms of population growth. In absolute terms, the world’s population continues to grow – by around 66 million people per year, or an average of 2.1 people per second.
The foundation said there were currently 7,977,000,000 people on the planet. The threshold of eight billion is expected to be reached on November 15 of this year. By 2030, researchers predict there will be 8.5 billion people on the planet, and 9.7 by 2050, before a peak of 10.4 billion people in 2080, which is estimated to last until around 2100.
Demand for “feminist development policy”
The birth rate is still high, especially in the Global South. There, “many girls and women are still having more children than they would like,” said DSW deputy managing director Angela Bähr.
In sub-Saharan Africa, for example, the average number of children per woman is 4.6 – well above the global average of 2.3, despite declining numbers. The possibility of self-determined family planning from a young age is not only a human right, but also a key to fighting poverty, explained Bähr. “Therefore we call on the federal government that sex education and access to contraceptives must be cornerstones of a feminist development policy.”
Less growth than opportunity for developing countries
For John Wilmoth, Director of the UN Population Division, there are many opportunities, especially for developing countries, in long-term global development – despite all regional differences. In addition to fighting poverty and hunger, this applies above all to the issue of education: fewer offspring increase the attention paid to each child.
“When the average family size falls, both families and societies will be able to invest more in each child, improve the quality of education and develop the human capital of the population,” Wilmoth told the dpa news agency. The downside of lower birth rates, however, is that the population as a whole is getting older and a larger proportion are reaching an age at which they are dependent on help. In particular, because life expectancy will also increase.