When will the world population reach nine billion?

The population on planet Earth has exceeded eight billion people, three billion of which occurred during the last 36 years at an average of one billion every 12 years. The world population is heading towards reaching its ninth billion, which is projected to happen within the coming next 12 years.

As is known, our world is politically, economically, and culturally divided, but what are the aspects of the world being demographically divided?

To start with, 84% of the population lives in developing countries, and the rest (only 16%) occupy developed countries. India has become the most populated country in the world, followed by China in second place with a total of about 3 billion, which together constitute about 38% of the world population.

Second, the birth rate in developing countries is twice as much as in developed countries at a rate of 18 births compared to 9 births per thousand.

Third, the recent annual growth in world population, which amounted to 72 million, all occurred in developing countries, whereas the population of developed countries dropped except for those countries hosting immigrants from developing countries as the death rate in developed countries exceeds the birth rate at 12 deaths for every 9 births. This means that every one thousand people of the population, 12 people are lost to death per annum, while 9 births are added to them throughout the year. Hence, the corresponding statistics in developing countries are 8 deaths compared to 18 births annually for every thousand people of the population.

Fourth, the proportion of the elderly (65+ years) exceeds the proportion of children under the age of 15 among the population in developed countries, where the proportion of the elderly is 20% compared to the proportion of children 16%. In developing countries, however, it is the opposite as the percentage of children significantly exceeds the percentage of the elderly, at 27% compared to 8%.

Finally, some might wonder saying, ‘Should we be concerned with the increase in world population? Does it really matter to us?’ The answer is yes! We all share the same atmosphere with the rest of the world; we all share the environmental warming, and climate change. Together we produce the oxygen we breathe, and together we send off carbon dioxide and other emissions into the atmosphere as well. We also share with the rest of the world the price we pay for the goods we consume, especially the basic and essential commodities we import, such as energy sources, grains, and fuel. We need to be more alert and mindful of the many impacts, some of which we mentioned here, that the increase in world population has on things we share in common on our planet.