Population

WHAT'S NEXT?: The global population is expected to reach 8.5 billion in 2030, up 1 billion from 2016. Western economies are declining in numbers and emerging economies witnessing burgeoning growth.

• [New] In Latin America, population and GDP growth, coupled with increasing electrification and industrialisation, are forecast to drive electricity demand by 3.15% per annum to 2030.
• [New] The population of Singapore over the age of 65 is expected to reach 26.6% in 2035, whereas the ageing population in Thailand is expected to reach 22.8%.
• [New] By 2040, a total of 5.4 billion people - more than half of the world's projected population - will live in the 59 countries experiencing high or extreme water stress, including India and China.
• [New] Numbers of 15-24-year-olds are projected to increase sharply in rural locations of sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, regions experiencing fast population growth.
• [New] In Los Angeles County, rising temperatures combined with population growth could crank up electricity demand during peak summertime hours as much as 51% by 2060 under a high-emissions scenario.
• [New] The elderly population in Himachal is projected to grow at a rate of 3.1% annually and is expected to reach 1.1 million by 2026, which will be about 15% of its total population by that year.
• [New] Two-thirds of the world's population is unlikely to have easy access to any Covid-19 vaccine that needs to be stored at freezing temperatures.
• [New] When China connects its fiftieth nuclear power reactor to the grid, which is expected in a few years, China's nuclear power plants will contribute only about 5% of the electricity demanded by its population of 1.4 billion.
• As EU figures demonstrate, people aged 65 years or older should account for 30.3% of the EU population by 2070 (compared to 20.3% in 2019) and people aged 80 years or older for 13.2%, while Europe's share of global population is expected to account for less than 4% of the world's population.
• World wheat consumption is forecast to increase in 2020-21 and over the medium term to 2024-25 due to a growing world population consuming more milling and feed wheat.
• Over the medium term to 2024-25, world import demand for wheat will continue increasing in line with population growth, changing diets and rising incomes.
• More than 600 million people or 60% of the population living in sub-Saharan Africa have no access to electricity an Africa's population is projected to double over the next 30 years to over 2 billion and 50% of Africans will potentially be living in cities by 2030.
• Trends such as surging meat consumption, global population reaching 9.4 billion by 2070, and climate change inducing a more intense water cycle put them under even more strain.
• Africa has a population problem, with 1.3 billion people, projected to double by 2050, and with 70% of its youth population unemployed.
• Driven by sustained economic expansion and moderate population growth, sugar demand in Asia is expected to represent more than half of global consumption by 2029.
• Society faces a dual challenge of increasing supplies of energy to meet the demand of a growing world population while also addressing the risks of climate change.
• Mobility 2040, Westborough is expected to experience low to moderate population growth over the next 25 years.
• Southeastern Europe is experiencing one of the sharpest depopulations in the world, led by Bulgaria, whose population is projected to drop nearly one-quarter by 2050.
• The world should reach 8.5 billion people by 2030 and the fastest growing demographic will be the elderly, with the population of people over 65 years old at 1 billion.
• The planet will continue to feel even smaller in 2030 as more people are able to communicate over the internet (90% of the world population will be able to read; 75% will have mobile connectivity; 60% should have broadband access), they will also move more.
• Compared to the reference scenario, the population of Western Australia will age more under the severe scenario, with the percentage of the population aged 65 and over fully one percentage point higher by 2040 than.
• Australia's population could be 4% lower by 2040 in a Severe scenario than in the No Pandemic scenario, driven by a massive reduction in international migration.

See full forecast

Last updated: 17 September 2020