- World population will break through 8bn in 2023.
- There are more men than women globally (102 men for every 100 women).
- In 2018, the number of over-60s will top 1bn for the first time.
- Children make up one quarter of the world's population.
- More than half the global population growth by 2050 will come from just nine countries: India, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Tanzania, the US, Uganda and Indonesia, where fertility rates persist at levels far higher than the rest of the world.
- The world population will reach 9.8bn in 2050: 2bn of these will be over 60.
- By contrast, all European countries have fertility rates below replacement level, so populations will decline without large scale immigration.
- Eastern Europe likely to be worst affected with drops of 15% in Bulgaria, Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Serbia and Ukraine.
UK Population Trends
- The Office for National Statistics said that the UK population was expected to increase by 4.4 million in the next ten years (roughly the size of the Irish Republic) , reaching 70 million in 2027.
- The population is projected to grow by 9.7 million over the next 25 years, reaching 74.3 million.
- Statistics predict an ageing population, with some 29.5% of people aged over 60 by 2039 (23.2% in 2015).
- In 2039 more than 1 in 12 UK people are expected to be aged 80 or over.
- These projections assume that more people will come to live in the UK than emigrate, accounting for about half of the increase. The remainder is attributed to births outnumbering deaths.
- In many European countries, the trend is for a decreasing population.
- Decreasing populations have a shrinking working-age population, with an increased ageing population which is not productive.
- Where migration contributes to population growth, the challenge is to ensure that immigrants pay more in taxes than they cost in public services.
