India will overtake China as the most-populated nation on Earth by the year 2022, according to a new study from the United Nations.
By the year 2050, the United States will lose its position as the third-largest nation on Earth to the booming population of Nigeria. That nation is currently ranked seventh in global population.
The World Population Prospects 2015 report suggests that, by the year 2050, the number of people around the globe will rise from around 7.3 billion people to 9.7 billion. Over the second half of the 21st century, that number will reach 11.2 billion individuals if current trends continue, the report contends.
Nations in Africa will be home to nearly half of the global rise in population over the coming decades. Indonesia and the United States will also be among the largest contributors to the increase in global population, the study predicts.
"A rapid population increase in Africa is anticipated even if there is a substantial reduction of fertility levels in the near future. The medium variant projection assumes that fertility will fall from 4.7 children per women in 2010-2015 to 3.1 in 2045-2050, reaching 2.2 by 2095-2100. After 2050, Africa is expected to be the only major area still experiencing substantial population growth," the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations reports.
Researchers have long suspected India would be home to the world's largest population in the coming decades. However, most analysts believed this benchmark would not be reached until the year 2028. This new report pushes that date, released by the United Nations in 2013, forward by six years.
As of 2015, the population of India stands at 1.31 billion people, compared with 1.38 billion living in China. The report predicts that during 2022, each nation will reach identical population levels of 1.4 billion residents.
Following this rise, the report states China will see its population growth level off sometime around the year 2030. Meanwhile, the size of India will grow to 1.3 billion people in 2030 to 1.7 billion by the middle of the century.
The World Population Prospects 2015 study also foretells that several countries will lose 15 percent or more of their population by the year 2050. These nations include Japan, Serbia and Ukraine.
Population demographics will also radically change over the next 35 years, the study concludes. The number of people age 80 or older will triple over today's figures. By the year 2100, that demographic is expected to rise to seven times that of the current figure.
Photo: David Gil | Flickr
