Oxford Martin School logo

Population Growth

Population growth is one of the most important topics we cover at Our World in Data .

For most of human history, the global population was a tiny fraction of what it is today. Over the last few centuries, the human population has gone through an extraordinary change. In 1800, there were one billion people. Today there are more than 8 billion of us.

But after a period of very fast population growth, demographers expect the world population to peak by the end of this century.

On this page, you will find all of our data, charts, and writing on changes in population growth. This includes how populations are distributed worldwide, how this has changed, and what demographers expect for the future.

Related topics

  • Child Mortality
  • Fertility Rate
  • Life Expectancy
  • Age Structure

Key insights on Population Growth

Population cartograms show us where the world’s people are.

Geographical maps show us where the world’s landmasses are; not where people are. That means they don’t always give us an accurate picture of how global living standards are changing.

One way to understand the distribution of people worldwide is to redraw the world map – not based on the area but according to population.

This is shown here as a population cartogram : a geographical presentation of the world where the size of countries is not drawn according to the distribution of land but by the distribution of people. It’s shown for the year 2018.

As the population size rather than the territory is shown in this map, you can see some significant differences when you compare it to the standard geographical map we’re most familiar with. 

Small countries with a high population density increase in size in this cartogram relative to the world maps we are used to – look at Bangladesh, Taiwan, or the Netherlands. Large countries with a small population shrink in size – look for Canada, Mongolia, Australia, or Russia.

You can find more details on this cartogram in our article about it:

Population cartogram world 2 e1538912000147

What you should know about this data

  • This map is based on the United Nation’s 2017 World Population Prospects report. Our interactive charts show population data from the most recent UN revision. This means there may be minor differences between the figures shown on the map and the latest estimates in our other charts.

Population cartogram world

The world population has increased rapidly over the last few centuries

The speed of global population growth over the last few centuries has been staggering. For most of human history, the world population was well under one million. 1

As recently as 12,000 years ago, there were only 4 million people worldwide.

The chart shows the rapid increase in the global population since 1700. 

The one-billion mark wasn’t broken until the early 1800s. It was only a century ago that there were 2 billion people.

Since then, the global population has quadrupled to eight billion.

Around 108 billion people have ever lived on our planet. This means that today’s population size makes up 6.5% of the total number of people ever born. 2

This increase has been the result of advances in living conditions and health that reduced death rates – especially in children – and increases in life expectancy.

  • This data comes from a combination of sources, all detailed in our sources article for our long-term population dataset.

Annual world population since 10 thousand bce 1

Population growth is no longer exponential – it peaked decades ago

There’s a popular misconception that the global population is growing exponentially. But it’s not.

While the global population is still increasing in absolute numbers, population growth peaked decades ago.

In the chart, we see the global population growth rate per year. This is based on historical UN estimates and its medium projection to 2100.

Global population growth peaked in the 1960s at over 2% per year. Since then, rates have more than halved, falling to less than 1%. 

The UN expects rates to continue to fall until the end of the century. In fact, towards the end of the century, it projects negative growth, meaning the global population will shrink instead of grow.

Global population growth, in absolute terms – which is the number of births minus the number of deaths – has also peaked. You can see this in our interactive chart:

2019 revision – world population growth 1700 2100

The world has passed “peak child”

Hans Rosling famously coined the term “ peak child ” for the moment in global demographic history when the number of children stopped increasing.

According to the UN data, the world has passed “peak child”, which is defined as the number of children under the age of five.

The chart shows the UN’s historical estimates and projections of the number of children under five.

It estimates that the number of children in the world peaked in 2017. For the coming decades, demographers expect a decades-long plateau before the number will decline more rapidly in the second half of the century.

  • These projections are sensitive to the assumptions made about future fertility rates worldwide. Find out more from the UN World Population Division .
  • Other sources and scenarios in the UN’s projections suggest that the peak was reached slightly earlier or later. However, most indicate that the world is close to “peak child” and the number of children will not increase in the coming decades.
  • The ‘ups and downs’ in this chart reflect generational effects and ‘baby booms’ when there are large cohorts of women of reproductive age, and high fertility rates. The timing of these transitions varies across the world.

The UN expects the global population to peak by the end of the century

When will population growth come to an end?

The UN’s historical estimates and latest projections for the global population are shown in the chart.

The UN projects that the global population will peak before the end of the century – in 2086, at just over 10.4 billion people.

  • These projections are sensitive to the assumptions made about future fertility and mortality rates worldwide. Find out more from the UN World Population Division .
  • Other sources and scenarios in the UN’s projections can produce a slightly earlier or later peak. Most demographers, however, expect that by the end of the century, the global population will have peaked or slowed so much that population growth will be small.

Explore data on Population Growth

Research & writing.

Population cartogram world

What would the work look like if each country’s area was in proportion to its population?

Featured image world population growth

The world population has increased rapidly in recent centuries. But this is slowing.

Max Roser and Hannah Ritchie

More Key articles on Population Growth

How many people die and how many are born each year.

Hannah Ritchie and Edouard Mathieu

Five key findings from the 2022 UN Population Prospects

Hannah Ritchie, Edouard Mathieu and Lucas Rodés-Guirao

Which countries are most densely populated?

Demographic change.

Screen shot 2021 11 21 at 21.06.10

Hannah Ritchie

Future population region featured 01

Definitions and sources

Population sources featured 01

Edouard Mathieu and Lucas Rodés-Guirao

Population projections thumbnail 01

Other articles related to population growth

Famine victims and world population since 1860

Interactive charts on Population Growth

Our World in Data is free and accessible for everyone.

Help us do this work by making a donation.

Understanding Global Change

Discover why the climate and environment changes, your place in the Earth system, and paths to a resilient future.

Population growth

closeup image of storyboard

Population growth is the increase in the number of humans on Earth. For most of human history our population size was relatively stable. But with innovation and industrialization, energy, food , water , and medical care became more available and reliable. Consequently, global human population rapidly increased, and continues to do so, with dramatic impacts on global climate and ecosystems. We will need technological and social innovation to help us support the world’s population as we adapt to and mitigate climate and environmental changes.

global population essay

World human population growth from 10,000 BC to 2019 AD. Data from: The United Nations

Human population growth impacts the Earth system in a variety of ways, including:

  • Increasing the extraction of resources from the environment. These resources include fossil fuels (oil, gas, and coal), minerals, trees , water , and wildlife , especially in the oceans. The process of removing resources, in turn, often releases pollutants and waste that reduce air and water quality , and harm the health of humans and other species.
  • Increasing the burning of fossil fuels for energy to generate electricity, and to power transportation (for example, cars and planes) and industrial processes.
  • Increase in freshwater use for drinking, agriculture , recreation, and industrial processes. Freshwater is extracted from lakes, rivers, the ground, and man-made reservoirs.
  • Increasing ecological impacts on environments. Forests and other habitats are disturbed or destroyed to construct urban areas including the construction of homes, businesses, and roads to accommodate growing populations. Additionally, as populations increase, more land is used for agricultural activities to grow crops and support livestock. This, in turn, can decrease species populations , geographic ranges , biodiversity , and alter interactions among organisms.
  • Increasing fishing and hunting , which reduces species populations of the exploited species. Fishing and hunting can also indirectly increase numbers of species that are not fished or hunted if more resources become available for the species that remain in the ecosystem.
  • Increasing the transport of invasive species , either intentionally or by accident, as people travel and import and export supplies. Urbanization also creates disturbed environments where invasive species often thrive and outcompete native species. For example, many invasive plant species thrive along strips of land next to roads and highways.
  • The transmission of diseases . Humans living in densely populated areas can rapidly spread diseases within and among populations. Additionally, because transportation has become easier and more frequent, diseases can spread quickly to new regions.

Can you think of additional cause and effect relationships between human population growth and other parts of the Earth system?

Visit the burning of fossil fuels , agricultural activities , and urbanization pages to learn more about how processes and phenomena related to the size and distribution of human populations affect global climate and ecosystems.

Investigate

Learn more in these real-world examples, and challenge yourself to  construct a model  that explains the Earth system relationships.

  • The Ecology of Human Populations: Thomas Malthus
  • A Pleistocene Puzzle: Extinction in South America

Links to Learn More

  • United Nations World Population Maps
  • Scientific American: Does Population Growth Impact Climate Change?

National Academies Press: OpenBook

The Growth of World Population: Analysis of the Problems and Recommendations for Research and Training (1963)

Chapter: world population problems, world population problems, the growth of world population.

The population of the world, now somewhat in excess of three billion persons, is growing at about two per cent a year, or faster than at any other period in man’s history. While there has been a steady increase of population growth during the past two or three centuries, it has been especially rapid during the past 20 years. To appreciate the pace of population growth we should recall that world population doubled in about 1,700 years from the time of Christ until the middle of the 17th century; it doubled again in about 200 years, doubled again in less than 100, and, if the current rate of population increase were to remain constant, would double every 35 years. Moreover, this rate is still increasing.

To be sure, the rate of increase cannot continue to grow much further. Even if the death rate were to fall to zero, at the present level of human reproduction the growth rate would not be much in excess of three and one-half per cent per year, and the time required for world population to double would not fall much below 20 years.

Although the current two per cent a year does not sound like an extraordinary rate of increase, a few simple calculations demonstrate that such a rate of increase in human population could not possibly continue for more than a few hundred years. Had this rate existed from the time of Christ to now, the world population would have increased in this period by a factor of about 7×10 16 ; in other words, there would be about 20 million individuals in place of each

person now alive, or 100 people to each square foot. If the present world population should continue to increase at its present rate of two per cent per year, then, within two centuries, there will be more than 150 billion people. Calculations of this sort demonstrate without question not only that the current continued increase in the rate of population growth must cease but also that this rate must decline again. There can be no doubt concerning this long-term prognosis: Either the birth rate of the world must come down or the death rate must go back up.

POPULATION GROWTH IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE WORLD

The rates of population growth are not the same, of course, in all parts of the world. Among the industrialized countries, Japan and most of the countries of Europe are now growing relatively slowly—doubling their populations in 50 to 100 years. Another group of industrialized countries—the United States, the Soviet Union, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and Argentina—are doubling their populations in 30 to 40 years, approximately the world average. The pre-industrial, low-income, and less-developed areas of the world, with two thirds of the world’s population—including Asia (except Japan and the Asiatic part of the Soviet Union), the southwestern Pacific islands (principally the Philippines and Indonesia), Africa (with the exception of European minorities), the Caribbean Islands, and Latin America (with the exception of Argentina and Uruguay)—are growing at rates ranging from moderate to very fast. Annual growth rates in all these areas range from one and one-half to three and one-half per cent, doubling in 20 to 40 years.

The rates of population growth of the various countries of the world are, with few exceptions, simply the differences between their birth rates and death rates. International migration is a negligible factor in rates of growth today. Thus, one can understand the varying rates of population growth of different parts of the world by understanding what underlies their respective birth and death rates.

THE REDUCTION OF FERTILITY AND MORTALITY IN WESTERN EUROPE SINCE 1800

A brief, over-simplified history of the course of birth and death rates in western Europe since about 1800 not only provides a frame of reference for understanding the current birth and death rates in Europe, but also casts some light on the present situation and prospects in other parts of the world. A simplified picture of the population history of a typical western European country is shown in

global population essay

Figure 1 . Schematic presentation of birth and death rates in western Europe after 1800. (The time span varies roughly from 75 to 150 years.)

Figure 1 . The jagged interval in the early death rate and the recent birth rate is intended to indicate that all the rates are subject to substantial annual variation. The birth rate in 1800 was about 35 per 1,000 population and the average number of children ever born to women reaching age 45 was about five. The death rate in 1800 averaged 25 to 30 per 1,000 population although, as indicated, it was subject to variation because of episodic plagues, epidemics, and crop failures. The average expectation of life at birth was 35 years or less. The current birth rate in western European countries is 14 to 20 per 1,000 population with an average of two to three children born to a woman by the end of childbearing. The death rate is 7 to 11 per 1,000 population per year, and the expectation of life at birth is about 70 years. The death rate declined, starting in the late 18th or early 19th century, partly because of better transport and communication, wider markets, and greater productivity, but more directly because of the development of sanitation and, later, modern medicine. These developments, part of the changes in the whole complex of modern civilization, involved scientific and technological advances in many areas, specifically in public health, medicine, agriculture, and industry. The immediate cause of the decline in the birth rate was the increased deliberate control of fertility within marriage. The only important exception to this statement relates to Ireland, where the decline in the birth rate was brought about by an increase of several years in the age at marriage combined with an increase of 10 to 15 per cent in the proportion of people remaining single. The average age at marriage rose to 28 and more than a fourth of Irish women remained unmarried at age 45. In other countries, however, such social changes have had either insignificant or favorable effects on the birth rate. In these countries—England, Wales, Scotland, Scandinavia, the Low Countries, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and France—the birth rate went down because of the practice of contraception among married couples. It is certain that there was no decline in the reproductive capacity; in fact, with improved health, the contrary is likely.

Only a minor fraction of the decline in western European fertility can be ascribed to the invention of modern techniques of contraception. In the first place, very substantial declines in some European countries antedated the invention and mass manufacture of contraceptive devices. Second, we know from surveys that as recently as just

before World War II more than half of the couples in Great Britain practicing birth control were practicing withdrawal, or coitus interruptus. There is similar direct evidence for other European countries.

In this instance, the decline in fertility was not the result of technical innovations in contraception, but of the decision of married couples to resort to folk methods known for centuries. Thus we must explain the decline in the western European birth rates in terms of why people were willing to modify their sexual behavior in order to have fewer children. Such changes in attitude were doubtless a part of a whole set of profound social and economic changes that accompanied the industrialization and modernization of western Europe. Among the factors underlying this particular change in attitude was a change in the economic consequences of childbearing. In a pre-industrial, agrarian society children start helping with chores at an early age; they do not remain in a dependent status during a long period of education. They provide the principal form of support for the parents in their old age, and, with high mortality, many children must be born to ensure that some will survive to take care of their parents. On the other hand, in an urban, industrialized society, children are less of an economic asset and more of an economic burden.

Among the social factors that might account for the change in attitude is the decline in the importance of the family as an economic unit that has accompanied the industrialization and modernization of Europe. In an industrialized economy, the family is no longer the unit of production and individuals come to be judged by what they do rather than who they are. Children leave home to seek jobs and parents no longer count on support by their children in their old age. As this kind of modernization continues, public education, which is essential to the production of a literate labor force, is extended to women, and thus the traditional subordinate role of women is modified. Since the burden of child care falls primarily on women, their rise in status is probably an important element in the development of an attitude favoring the deliberate limitation of family size. Finally, the social and economic changes characteristic of industrialization and modernization of a country are accompanied by and reinforce a rise of secularism, pragmatism, and rationalism in place of custom and tradition. Since modernization of a nation involves extension of deliberate human control over an increasing range of the environment,

it is not surprising that people living in an economy undergoing industrialization should extend the notion of deliberate and rational control to the question of whether or not birth should result from their sexual activities.

As the simplified representation in Figure 1 indicates, the birth rate in western Europe usually began its descent after the death rate had already fallen substantially. (France is a partial exception. The decline in French births began late in the 18th century and the downward courses of the birth and death rates during the 19th century were more or less parallel.) In general, the death rate appears to be affected more immediately and automatically by industrialization. One may surmise that the birth rate responds more slowly because its reduction requires changes in more deeply seated customs. There is in most societies a consensus in favor of improving health and reducing the incidence of premature death. There is no such consensus for changes in attitudes and behavior needed to reduce the birth rate.

DECLINING FERTILITY AND MORTALITY IN OTHER INDUSTRIALIZED AREAS

The pattern of declining mortality and fertility that we have described for western Europe fits not only the western European countries upon which it is based but also, with suitable adjustment in the initial birth and death rates and in the time scale, eastern and southern Europe (with the exception of Albania), the Soviet Union, Japan, the United States, Australia, Canada, Argentina, and New Zealand. In short, every country that has changed from a predominantly rural agrarian society to a predominantly industrial urban society and has extended public education to near-universality, at least at the primary school level, has had a major reduction in birth and death rates of the sort depicted in Figure 1 .

The jagged line describing the variable current birth rate represents in some instances—notably the United States—a major recovery in the birth rate from its low point. It must be remembered, however, that this recovery has not been caused by a reversion to uncontrolled family size. In the United States, for example, one can scarcely imagine that married couples have forgotten how to employ the contraceptive

techniques that reduced the birth rates to a level of mere replacement just before World War II. We know, in fact, that more couples are skilled in the use of contraception today than ever before. (Nevertheless, effective methods of controlling family size are still unknown and unused by many couples even in the United States.) The recent increase in the birth rate has been the result largely of earlier and more nearly universal marriage, the virtual disappearance of childless and one-child families, and a voluntary choice of two, three, or four children by a vast majority of American couples. There has been no general return to the very large family of pre-industrial times, although some segments of our society still produce many unwanted children.

POPULATION TRENDS IN LESS-DEVELOPED COUNTRIES

We turn now to a comparison of the present situation in the less-developed areas with the demographic circumstances in western Europe prior to the industrial revolution. Figure 2 presents the trends of birth and death rates in the less-developed areas in a rough schematic way similar to that employed in Figure 1 . There are several important differences between the circumstances in today’s less-developed areas and those in pre-industrial Europe. Note first that the birth rate in the less-developed areas is higher than it was in pre-industrial western Europe. This difference results from the fact that in many less-developed countries almost all women at age 35 have married, and at an average age substantially less than in 18th-century Europe. Second, many of the less-developed areas of the world today are much more densely populated than was western Europe at the beginning of the industrial revolution. Moreover, there are few remaining areas comparable to North and South America into which a growing population could move and which could provide rapidly expanding markets. Finally, and most significantly, the death rate in the less-developed areas is dropping very rapidly—a decline that looks almost vertical compared to the gradual decline in western Europe—and without regard to economic change.

The precipitous decline in the death rate that is occurring in the low-income countries of the world is a consequence of the development and application of low-cost public health techniques. Unlike

global population essay

Figure 2 . Schematic presentation of birth and death rates in less-developed countries, mid-20th century. (The steep drop in the death rate from approximately 35 per thousand began at times varying roughly between 1940 and 1960 from country to country.)

the countries of western Europe, the less-developed areas have not had to wait for the slow gradual development of medical science, nor have they had to await the possibly more rapid but still difficult process of constructing major sanitary engineering works and the build-up of a large inventory of expensive hospitals, public health

services, and highly trained doctors. Instead, the less-developed areas have been able to import low-cost measures of controlling disease, measures developed for the most part in the highly industrialized countries. The use of residual insecticides to provide effective protection against malaria at a cost of no more than 25 cents per capita per annum is an outstanding example. Other innovations include antibiotics and chemotherapy, and low-cost ways of providing safe water supplies and adequate environmental sanitation in villages that in most other ways remain relatively untouched by modernization. The death rate in Ceylon was cut in half in less than a decade, and declines approaching this in rapidity are almost commonplace.

The result of a precipitous decline in mortality while the birth rate remains essentially unchanged is, of course, a very rapid acceleration in population growth, reaching rates of three to three and one-half per cent. Mexico’s population, for example, has grown in recent years at a rate of approximately three and one-half per cent a year. This extreme rate is undoubtedly due to temporary factors and would stabilize at not more than three per cent. But even at three per cent per year, two centuries would see the population of Mexico grow to about 13.5 billion people. Two centuries is a long time, however. Might we not expect that long before 200 years had passed the population of Mexico would have responded to modernization, as did the populations of western Europe, by reducing the birth rate? A positive answer might suggest that organized educational efforts to reduce the birth rate are not necessary. But there is a more immediate problem demanding solution in much less than two centuries: Is the current demographic situation in the less-developed countries impeding the process of modernization itself? If so, a course of action that would directly accelerate the decline in fertility becomes an important part of the whole development effort which is directed toward improving the quality of each individual’s life.

POPULATION TRENDS AND THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF PRE-INDUSTRIAL COUNTRIES

The combination of high birth rates and low or rapidly declining death rates now found in the less-developed countries implies two different characteristics of the population that have important impli-

cations for the pace of their economic development. One important characteristic is rapid growth, which is the immediate consequence of the large and often growing difference between birth and death rates; the other is the heavy burden of child dependency which results from a high birth rate whether death rates are high or low. A reduced death rate has only a slight effect on the proportion of children in the population, and this effect is in a rather surprising direction. The kinds of mortality reduction that have actually occurred in the world have the effect, if fertility remains unchanged, of reducing rather than increasing the average age of the population.

Mortality reduction produces this effect because the largest increases occur in the survival of infants, and, although the reduction in mortality increases the number of old persons, it increases the number of children even more. The result is that the high fertility found in low-income countries produces a proportion of children under fifteen of 40 to 45 per cent of the total population, compared to 25 per cent or less in most of the industrialized countries.

What do these characteristics of rapid growth and very large proportions of children imply about the capacity to achieve rapid industrialization? It must be noted that it is probably technically possible in every less-developed area to increase national output at rates even more rapid than the very rapid rates of population increase we have discussed, at least for a few years. The reason at least slight increases in per capita income appear feasible is that the low-income countries can import industrial and agricultural technology as well as medical technology. Briefly, the realistic question in the short run does not seem to be whether some increases in per capita income are possible while the population grows rapidly, but rather whether rapid population growth is a major deterrent to a rapid and continuing increase in per capita income.

A specific example will clarify this point. If the birth rate in India is not reduced, its population will probably double in the next 25 or 30 years, increasing from about 450 million to about 900 million. Agricultural experts consider it feasible within achievable limits of capital investment to accomplish a doubling of Indian agricultural output within the next 20 to 25 years. In the same period the output of the non-agricultural part of the Indian economy probably would be slightly more than doubled if the birth rate remained unchanged.

For a generation at least, then, India’s economic output probably can stay ahead of its maximum rate of population increase. This bare excess over the increase in population, however, is scarcely a satisfactory outcome of India’s struggle to achieve economic betterment. The real question is: Could India and the other less-developed areas of the world do substantially better if their birth rates and thus their population growth rates were reduced? Economic analysis clearly indicates that the answer is yes. Any growth of population adds to the rate of increase of national output that must be achieved in order to increase per capita output by any given amount.

To double per capita output in 30 years requires an annual increase in per capita output of 2.3 per cent; if population growth is three per cent a year, then the annual increase in national output must be raised to 5.3 per cent to achieve the desired level of economic growth. In either instance an economy, to grow, must divert effort and resources from producing for current consumption to the enhancement of future productivity. In other words, to grow faster an economy must raise its level of net investment. Net investment is investment in factories, roads, irrigation networks, and fertilizer plants, and also in education and training. The low-income countries find it difficult to mobilize resources for these purposes for three reasons: The pressure to use all available resources for current consumption is great; rapid population growth adds very substantially to the investment targets that must be met to achieve any given rate of increase in material well-being; and the very high proportions of children that result from high fertility demand that a larger portion of national output must be used to support a very large number of non-earning dependents. These dependents create pressure to produce for immediate consumption only. In individual terms, the family with a large number of children finds it more difficult to save, and a government that tries to finance development expenditures out of taxes can expect less support from a population with many children. Moreover, rapid population growth and a heavy burden of child dependency divert investment funds to less productive uses—that is, less productive in the long run. To achieve a given level of literacy in a population much more must be spent on schools. In an expanding population of large families, construction effort must go into housing rather than into factories or power plants.

Thus the combination of continued high fertility and greatly reduced mortality in the less-developed countries raises the levels of investment required while impairing the capacity of the economy to achieve high levels of investment. Economists have estimated that a gradual reduction in the rate of childbearing, totaling 50 per cent in 30 years, would add about 40 per cent to the income per consumer that could be achieved by the end of that time.

To recapitulate, a short-term increase in per capita income may be possible in most less-developed areas, even if the fertility rate is not reduced. Nevertheless, even in the short run, progress will be much faster and more certain if the birth rate falls. In the longer run, economic progress will eventually be stopped and reversed unless the birth rate declines or the death rate increases. Economic progress will be slower and more doubtful if less-developed areas wait for the supposedly inevitable impact of modernization on the birth rate. They run the risk that rapid population growth and adverse age distribution would themselves prevent the achievement of the very modernization they count on to bring the birth rate down.

Welcome to OpenBook!

You're looking at OpenBook, NAP.edu's online reading room since 1999. Based on feedback from you, our users, we've made some improvements that make it easier than ever to read thousands of publications on our website.

Do you want to take a quick tour of the OpenBook's features?

Show this book's table of contents , where you can jump to any chapter by name.

...or use these buttons to go back to the previous chapter or skip to the next one.

Jump up to the previous page or down to the next one. Also, you can type in a page number and press Enter to go directly to that page in the book.

Switch between the Original Pages , where you can read the report as it appeared in print, and Text Pages for the web version, where you can highlight and search the text.

To search the entire text of this book, type in your search term here and press Enter .

Share a link to this book page on your preferred social network or via email.

View our suggested citation for this chapter.

Ready to take your reading offline? Click here to buy this book in print or download it as a free PDF, if available.

Get Email Updates

Do you enjoy reading reports from the Academies online for free ? Sign up for email notifications and we'll let you know about new publications in your areas of interest when they're released.

U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

The .gov means it’s official. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

The site is secure. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

  • Publications
  • Account settings
  • Advanced Search
  • Journal List
  • Facts Views Vis Obgyn
  • v.5(4); 2013

The world population explosion: causes, backgrounds and projections for the future

J. van bavel.

Centre for Sociological Research / Family & Population Studies (FaPOS), Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Leuven, Parkstraat 45 bus 3601, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.

At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the total world population crossed the threshold of 1 billion people for the first time in the history of the homo sapiens sapiens. Since then, growth rates have been increasing exponentially, reaching staggeringly high peaks in the 20th century and slowing down a bit thereafter. Total world population reached 7 billion just after 2010 and is expected to count 9 billion by 2045. This paper first charts the differences in population growth between the world regions. Next, the mechanisms behind unprecedented population growth are explained and plausible scenarios for future developments are discussed. Crucial for the long term trend will be the rate of decline of the number of births per woman, called total fertility. Improvements in education, reproductive health and child survival will be needed to speed up the decline of total fertility, particularly in Africa. But in all scenarios, world population will continue to grow for some time due to population momentum. Finally, the paper outlines the debate about the consequences of the population explosion, involving poverty and food security, the impact on the natural environment, and migration flows.

Key words: Fertility, family planning, world population, population growth, demographic transition, urbanization, population momentum, population projections.

Introduction

In the year 1900, Belgium and the Philippines had more or less the same population, around 7 million people. By the year 2000, the population of the Western European monarchy had grown to 10 million citizens, while the South East Asian republic at the turn of the century already counted 76 million citizens. The population of Belgium has since then exceeded 11 million citizens, but it is unlikely that this number will rise to 12 million by the year 2050. The population of the Philippines on the other hand will continue to grow to a staggering 127 million citizens by 2050, according to the demographic projections of the United Nations (UN 2013).

The demographic growth rate of the Philippines around the turn of the century (2% a year) has already created enormous challenges and is clearly unsustainable in the long term: such growth implies a doubling of the population every 35 years as a consequence of which there would be 152 million people by 2035, 304 million by 2070, and so on. Nobody expects such a growth to actually occur. This contribution will discuss the more realistic scenarios for the future.

Even the rather modest Belgian demographic growth rate around the turn of this century (0.46%) is not sustainable in the long term. In any case, it exceeds by far the average growth rate of the human species (homo sapiens sapiens) that arose in Africa some 200.000 years ago. Today, earth is inhabited by some 7 billion people. To achieve this number in 200.000 years, the average yearly growth rate over this term should have been around 0.011% annually (so 11 extra human beings per 1.000 human beings already living on earth). The current Belgian growth rate would imply that our country would have grown to 7 billion in less than 1500 years.

The point of this story is that the current growth numbers are historically very exceptional and untenable in the long term. The demographic growth rates are indeed on the decline worldwide and this paper will attempt to explain some of the mechanisms behind that process. That doesn’t change the fact, however, that the growth remains extraordinarily high and the decline in some regions very slow. This is especially the case in Sub Saharan Africa. In absolute numbers, the world population will continue to grow anyway for quite some time as a result of demographic inertia. This too will be further clarified in this paper.

The evolution of the world population in numbers

In order to be sustainable, the long term growth rate of the population should not differ much from 0%. That is because a growth rate exceeding 0% has exponential implications. In simple terms: if a combination of birth and growth figures only appears to cause a modest population growth initially, then this seems to imply an explosive growth in the longer term.

Thomas R. Malthus already acquired this point of view by the end of the 18th century. In his famous “Essay on the Principle of Population” (first edition in 1789), Malthus argues justly that in time the growth of the population will inevitably slow down, either by an increase of the death rate or by a decrease of the birth rate. On a local scale, migration also plays an important role.

It is no coincidence that Malthus’ essay appeared in England at the end of the 18th century. After all, the population there had started to grow at a historically unseen rate. More specifically the proletariat had grown immensely and that worried the intellectuals and the elite. Year after year, new demographic growth records were recorded.

At the beginning of the 19th century, the number of 1 billion people was exceeded for the first time in history. Subsequently growth accelerated and the number of 2 billion people was already surpassed around 1920. By 1960, another billion had been added, in 40 instead of 120 years time. And it continued to go even faster: 4 billion by 1974, 5 billion by 1987, 6 billion by 1999 and 7 billion in 2011 ( Fig. 1 ).

An external file that holds a picture, illustration, etc.
Object name is FVVinObGyn-5-281-291-g001.jpg

This will certainly not stop at the current 7 billion. According to the most recent projections by the United Nations, the number of 8 billion will probably be exceeded by 2025, and around 2045 there will be more than 9 billion people 1 . The further one looks into the future, the more uncertain these figures become, and with demography on a world scale one must always take into account a margin of error of a couple of tens of millions. But according to all plausible scenarios, the number of 9 billion will be exceeded by 2050.

Demographic growth was and is not equally distributed around the globe. The population explosion first occurred on a small scale and with a relatively moderate intensity in Europe and America, more or less between 1750 and 1950. From 1950 on, a much more substantial and intensive population explosion started to take place in Asia, Latin America and Africa ( Fig. 2 ). Asia already represented over 55% of the world population in 1950 with its 1.4 billion citizens and by the year 2010 this had increased to 4.2 billion people or 60%. Of those people, more than 1.3 billion live in China and 1.2 billion in India, together accounting for more than one third of the world population.

An external file that holds a picture, illustration, etc.
Object name is FVVinObGyn-5-281-291-g002.jpg

In the future, the proportion of Asia will come down and that of Africa will increase. Africa was populated by some 230 million people around 1950, or 9% of the world population. In 2010 there were already more than 1 billion Africans or 15% of the world population. According to UN projections, Africa will continue to grow at a spectacular rate up to 2.2 billion inhabitants in 2050 or 24% of the world population. The proportion of Europe, on the other hand, is evolving in the opposite direction: from 22% of the world population in 1950, over 11% in 2010 to an expected mere 8% in 2050. The population of Latin America has grown and is growing rapidly in absolute terms, but because of the strong growth in Asia and especially Africa, the relative proportion of the Latin American population is hardly increasing (at most from 6 to 8%). The proportion of the population in North America, finally, has decreased slightly from 7 to 5% of the world population.

What these figures mainly come down to in practice is that the population size in especially the poor countries is increasing at an unprecedented rate. At the moment, more than 5.7 billion people, or more than 80% of humanity, are living in what the UN categorise as a developing country. By 2050, that number would – according to the projections – have increased to 8 billion people or 86% of the world population. Within this group of developing countries, the group of least developed countries, the poorest countries so to speak, is growing strongly: from 830 million now, up to an expected 1.7 billion in 2050. This comprises very poor countries such as Somalia, Sudan, Liberia, Niger or Togo in Africa; Afghanistan, Bangladesh or Myanmar in Asia; and Haiti in the Caribbean.

The growth of the world population goes hand in hand with global urbanisation: while around the year 1950 less than 30% of people lived in the cities, this proportion has increased to more than 50%. It is expected that this proportion will continue to grow to two thirds around 2050. Latin America is the most urbanised continent (84%), closely followed by North America (82%) and at a distance by Europe (73%). The population density has increased intensely especially in the poorest countries: from 9 people per square km in 1950 to 40 people per square km in 2010 (an increase by 330%) in the poorest countries, while this figure in the rich countries increased from 15 to 23 people per square km (a 50% growth). In Belgium, population density is 358 people per square km and in the Netherlands 400 people per square km; in Rwanda this number is 411, in the Palestinian regions 666 and in Bangladesh an astonishing 1050.

Although the world population will continue to grow in absolute figures for some time – a following paragraph will explain why – the growth rate in percentages in all large world regions is decreasing. In the richer countries, the yearly growth rate has already declined to below 0.3%. On a global scale, the yearly growth rate of more than 2% at the peak around 1965 decreased to around 1% now. A further decline to less than 0.5% by 2050 is expected. In the world’s poorest countries, the demographic growth is still largest: at present around 2.2%. For these countries, a considerable decrease is expected, but the projected growth rate would not fall below 1.5% before 2050. This means, as mentioned above, a massive growth of the population in absolute figures in the world’s poorest countries.

Causes of the explosion: the demographic transition

The cause of, first, the acceleration and, then, the deceleration in population growth is the modern demographic transition: an increasingly growing group of countries has experienced a transition from relatively high to low birth and death rates, or is still in the process of experiencing this. It is this transition that is causing the modern population explosion. Figure 3 is a schematic and strongly simplified representation of the modern demographic transition.

An external file that holds a picture, illustration, etc.
Object name is FVVinObGyn-5-281-291-g003.jpg

In Europe, the modern demographic transition started to take place in the middle of the 18th century. Until then, years of extremely high death rates were quite frequent. Extremely high crisis mortality could be the consequence of epidemic diseases or failed harvests and famine, or a combination of both. As a consequence of better hygiene and a better transportation infrastructure (for one, the canals and roads constructed by Austria in the 18th century), amongst other reasons, crisis mortality became less and less frequent. Later on in the 19th century, child survival began to improve. Vaccination against smallpox for example led to an eradication of the disease, with the last European smallpox pandemic dating from 1871. This way, not only the years of crisis mortality became less frequent, but also the average death rate decreased, from an average 30 deaths per 1000 inhabitants in the beginning of the 19th century to around 15 deaths per 1000 citizens by the beginning of the 20th century. In the meantime, the birth rate however stayed at its previous, high level of 30-35 births per 1000 inhabitants.

The death rate went down but the birth rate still didn’t: this caused a large growth in population. It was only near the end of the nineteenth century (a bit earlier in some countries, later in others) that married couples in large numbers started to reduce their number of children. By the middle of the 20th century, the middle class ideal of a two children household had gained enormous popularity and influence. The reaction by the Church, for example in the encyclical Humanae Vitae (1968), came much too late to bring this evolution to a halt.

As a consequence of widespread family planning – made even easier in the sixties by modern hormonal contraceptives – the birth rate started declining as well and the population tended back towards zero growth. Nowadays the end of this transition process has been more than achieved in all European countries, because the fertility has been below replacement level for several decades (the replacement level is the fertility level that would in the long term lead to a birth rate identical to the death rate, if there would be no migration) 2 .

That the population explosion in the developing countries since the second half of the 20th century was so much more intense and massive, is a consequence of the fact that in those countries, the process of demographic transition occurred to a much more extreme extent and on a much larger scale. On the one hand, mortality decreased faster than in Europe. After all, in Europe the decline in mortality was the result of a gradual understanding of the importance of hygiene and afterwards the development of new medical insights. These insights of course already existed at the start of the demographic transitions in Asian, Latin American and African regions, whereby the life expectancy in these regions could grow faster. On the other hand, the total fertility – the average number of children per woman – at the start of the transition was a lot higher in many poor regions than it initially was in Europe. For South Korea, Brasil and the Congo, for example, the total fertility rate shortly after the Second World War (at the start of their demographic transition) is estimated to be 6 children per woman. In Belgium this number was close to 4.5 children per woman by the middle of the nineteenth century. In some developing regions, the fertility and birth rate decreased moderately to very fast, but in other regions this decline took off at an exceptionally sluggish pace – this will be further explained later on. As a consequence of these combinations of factors, in most of these countries the population explosion was much larger than it had been in most European countries.

Scenarios for the future

Nonetheless, the process of demographic transition has reached its second phase in almost all countries in the world, namely the phase of declining fertility and birth rates. In a lot of Asian and Latin American countries, the entire transition has taken place and the fertility level is around or below the replacement level. South Korea for example is currently at 1.2 children per woman and is one of the countries with the lowest fertility levels in the world. In Iran and Brasil the fertility level is currently more or less equal to Belgium’s, that is 1.8 to 1.9 children per woman.

Crucial to the future evolution of the population is the further evolution of the birth rate. Scenarios for the future evolution of the size and age of the population differ according to the hypotheses concerning the further evolution of the birth rate. The evolution of the birth rate is in turn dependent on two things: the further evolution of the total fertility rate (the average number of children per woman) in the first place and population momentum in the second. The latter is a concept I will later on discuss in more detail. The role of the population momentum is usually overlooked in the popular debates, but is of utmost importance in understanding the further evolution of the world population. Population momentum is the reason why we are as good as certain that the world population will continue to grow for a while. The other factor, the evolution of the fertility rate, is much more uncertain but of critical importance in the long term. The rate at which the further growth of the world population can be slowed down is primarily dependent on the extent to which the fertility rates will continue to decline. I will further elaborate on this notion in the next paragraph. After that, I will clarify the notion of population momentum.

Declining fertility

Fertility is going down everywhere in the world, but it’s going down particularly slowly in Africa. A further decline remains uncertain there. Figure 4 shows the evolution per world region between 1950 and 2010, plus the projected evolution until 2050. The numbers before 2010 illustrate three things. First of all, on all continents there is a decline going on. Secondly, this decline is not equal everywhere. And thirdly: the differences between the continents remain large in some cases. Asia and Latin America have seen a similar decline in fertility: from 5.9 children per woman in 1950 to 2.5 at the start of the 21st century. Europe and North America had already gone through the largest part of their demographic transition by the 1950’s. Their fertility level has been below replacement levels for years. Africa has indeed seen a global decrease of fertility, but the average number of children is still at an alarmingly high level: the fertility merely decreased from 6.7 to 5.1 children per woman.

An external file that holds a picture, illustration, etc.
Object name is FVVinObGyn-5-281-291-g004.jpg

These continental averages hide a huge underlying diversity in fertility paths. Figure 5 attempts to illustrate this for a number of countries. Firstly let us consider two African countries: the Congo and Niger. As was often the case in Europe in the 19th century, fertility was first on the rise before it started declining. In the Congo this decrease was more extensive, from around 6 children in 1980 to 4 children per woman today, and a further decline to just below three is expected in the next thirty years. Niger is the country where the fertility level remains highest: from 7 it first rose to an average of just below 8 children per woman in the middle of the 1980’s, before decreasing to just above 6.5 today. For the next decades a decline to 4 children per woman is expected. But that is not at all certain: it is dependent on circumstances that will be further explained in a moment. The demographic transition is after all not a law of nature but the result of human actions and human institutions.

An external file that holds a picture, illustration, etc.
Object name is FVVinObGyn-5-281-291-g005.jpg

Around 1950, Pakistan and Iran had more or less the same fertility level as Niger, but both countries have seen a considerable decline in the meantime. In Pakistan the level decreased slowly to the current level of 3 children per woman. In Iran the fertility decreased more abruptly, faster and deeper to below the replacement level – Iran today has one of the lowest fertility levels in the world, and a further decline is expected. The Iranian Revolution of 1978 played a crucial role in the history of Iran (Abassi-Shavazi et al., 2009): it brought better education and health care, two essential ingredients for birth control.

Brasil was also one of the countries with very high fertility in the 1950’s – higher than the Congo, for example. The decrease started earlier than in Iran but happened more gradually. Today both countries have the same total fertility, below the replacement level.

Child mortality, education and family planning

Which factors cause the average number of children to go down? The literature concerning explanations for the decrease in fertility is vast and complex, but two factors emerge as crucial in this process: education and child survival.

Considering child survival first: countries combining intensive birth control with very high child mortality are simply non-existent. The statistical association between the level of child mortality and fertility is very tight and strong: in countries with high child mortality, fertility is high, and vice versa. This statistical correlation is very strong because the causal relation goes in both directions; with quick succession of children and therefore a lot of children to take care for, the chances of survival for the infants are lower than in those families with only a limited number of children to take care of – this is a fortiori the case where infrastructure for health care is lacking. A high fertility level thus contributes to a high child mortality. And in the other direction: where survival chances of children improve, the fertility will go down because even those households with a lower number of children have increasing confidence in having descendants in the long term.

It is crucial to understand that the decline in child mortality in the demographic transition always precedes the decline in fertility. Men, women and families cannot be convinced of the benefits of birth control if they don’t have confidence in the survival chances of their children. Better health care is therefore essential, and a lack of good health care is one of the reasons for a persistently high fertility in a country like Niger.

Education is another factor that can cause a decline in fertility. This is probably the most important factor, not just because education is an important humanitarian goal in itself (apart from the demographic effects), but also because with education one can kill two birds with one stone: education causes more birth control but also better child survival (recently clearly demonstrated by Smith-Greenaway (2013), which in its turn will lead to better birth control. The statistical correlation between level of education and level of fertility is therefore very strong.

Firstly, education enhances the motivation for birth control: if parents invest in the education of their children, they will have fewer children, as has been demonstrated. Secondly, education promotes a more forward-looking lifestyle: it will lead people to think on a somewhat longer term, to think about tomorrow, next week and next month, instead of living for the day. This attitude is necessary for effective birth control. Thirdly, education also increases the potential for effective contraception, because birth control doesn’t just happen, especially not when efficient family planning facilities are not or hardly accessible or when there are opposing cultural or family values.

The influence of education on birth control has been demonstrated in a vast number of studies (James et al., 2012). It starts with primary education, but an even larger effect can be attained by investment in secondary education (Cohen, 2008). In a country like Niger, for example, women who didn’t finish primary school have on average 7.8 children. Women who did finish primary school have on average 6.7 children, while women who finished secondary school “only” have 4.6 children ( Fig. 6 ). The fertility of Niger would be a lot lower if more women could benefit from education. The tragedy of that country is that too many people fall in the category of those without a degree of primary school, with all its demographic consequences.

An external file that holds a picture, illustration, etc.
Object name is FVVinObGyn-5-281-291-g006.jpg

One achieves with education therefore a plural beneficial demographic effect on top of the important objective of human emancipation in itself. All this is of course not always true but depends on which form of “education”; I assume that we’re talking about education that teaches people the knowledge and skills to better take control of their own destiny.

It is one thing to get people motivated to practice birth control but obtaining actual effective contraception is quite another matter. Information concerning the efficient use of contraceptives and increasing the accessibility and affordability of contraceptives can therefore play an important role. There are an estimated 215 million women who would want to have contraception but don’t have the means (UNFPA, 2011). Investments in services to help with family planning are absolutely necessary and could already have great results in this group of women. But it’s no use to put the cart before the horse: if there is no intention to practice birth control, propaganda for and accessibility of contraception will hardly have any effect, as was demonstrated in the past. In Europe the lion’s share of the decline in fertility was realized with traditional methods, before the introduction of hormonal contraception in the sixties. There is often a problem of lack of motivation for birth control on the one hand, as a result of high child mortality and low schooling rates, and a lack of power in women who may be motivated to limit fertility but are confronted with male resistance on the other (Blanc, 2011; Do and Kurimoto, 2012). Empowerment of women is therefore essential, and education can play an important role in that process as well.

Population momentum

Even if all the people would suddenly practice birth control much more than is currently considered possible, the world population would still continue to grow for a while. This is the consequence of population momentum, a notion that refers to the phenomenon of demographic inertia, comparable to the phenomenon of momentum and inertia in the field of physics. Demographic growth is like a moving train: even when you turn off the engine, the movement will continue for a little while.

The power and direction of population momentum is dependent on the age structure of the population. Compare the population pyramids of Egypt and Germany ( Fig. 7 ). The one for Egypt has a pyramidal shape indeed, but the one for Germany looks more like an onion. As a consequence of high birth rates in the previous decades, the largest groups of Egyptians are to be found below the age of forty; the younger, the more voluminous the generation. Even if the current and future generations of Egyptians would limit their fertility strongly (as is indeed the case), the birth rate in Egypt would still continue to rise for quite some time, just because year after year more and more potential mothers and fathers reach the fertile ages. Egypt therefore clearly has a growth momentum.

An external file that holds a picture, illustration, etc.
Object name is FVVinObGyn-5-281-291-g007.jpg

Germany on the other hand has a negative or shrinking momentum: even if the younger generations of Germans would have a larger num ber of children than the generation of their own parents, the birth rate in Germany would still continue to decrease because fewer and fewer potential mothers and fathers reach the fertile ages.

The population momentum on a global scale is positive: even if fertility would decrease overnight to the replacement level, the world population would continue to grow with 40% (from 7 billion to 9.8 billion). Only the rich countries have a shrinking momentum, that is -3%. For Europe the momentum is -7%. The population momentum for the poorest countries in the world is +44%, that of Sub Saharan Africa +46% (Espenshade et al., 2011).

Consequences of the population explosion

The concerns about the consequences of population explosion started in the sixties. Milestone publications were the 1968 book The Population bomb by biologist Paul Ehrlich, the report of the Club of Rome from 1972 (The Limits to Growth) and the first World Population Plan of Action of the UN in 1974 among others.

In the world population debate, the general concerns involve mainly three interconnected consequences of the population explosion: 1) the growing poverty in the world and famine; 2) the exhaustion and pollution of natural resources essential to human survival; and 3) the migration pressure from the poor South to the rich North (Van Bavel, 2004).

Poverty and famine

The Malthusian line of thought continues to leave an important mark on the debate regarding the association between population growth and poverty: Malthus saw an excessive population growth as an important cause of poverty and famine. Rightfully this Malthusian vision has been criticized a lot. One must after all take the reverse causal relation into account as well: poverty and the related social circumstances (like a lack of education and good health care for children) contribute to high population growth as well.

Concerning famine: the production of food has grown faster since 1960 than the world population has, so nowadays the amount of food produced per person exceeds that which existed before the population explosion (Lam, 2011). The problem of famine isn’t as much an insufficient food production as it is a lack of fair distribution (and a lack of sustainable production, but that’s another issue). Often regions with famine have ecological conditions permitting sufficient production of food, provided the necessary investments in human resources and technology are made. The most important cause of famine is therefore not the population explosion. Famine is primarily a consequence of unequal distribution of food, which in turn is caused by social-economic inequality, lack of democracy and (civil) war.

Poverty and famine usually have mainly political and institutional causes, not demographic ones. The Malthusian vision, that sees the population explosion as the root of all evil, therefore has to be corrected ( Fig. 8 ). Rapid population growth can indeed hinder economical development and can thus pave the way for poverty. But this is only part of the story. As mentioned, poverty is also an underlying cause of rapid population growth. Social factors are at the base of both poverty and population growth. It’s those social factors that require our intervention: via investments in education and (reproductive) health care.

An external file that holds a picture, illustration, etc.
Object name is FVVinObGyn-5-281-291-g008.jpg

Impact on the environment

The impact of the population explosion on the environment is unquestionably high, but the size of the population represents only one aspect of this. In this regard it can be useful to keep in mind the simple I=PAT scheme: the ecological footprint or impact on the environment (I) can be regarded as the product of the size of the population (P), the prosperity or consumption level (A for affluence) and the technology used (T). The relationship between each of these factors is more complex than the I=PAT scheme suggests, but in any case the footprint I of a population of 1000 people is for example dependent on how many of those people drive a car instead of a bike, and of the emission per car of the vehicle fleet concerned.

The ecological footprint of the world population has increased tremendously the past decades and the growth of the world population has obviously played an important role in this. The other factors in the I=PAT scheme have however played a relatively bigger role than the demographic factor P. The considerable increase in the Chinese ecological footprint of the past decades for example, is more a consequence of the increased consumption of meat than of population growth (Peters et al., 2007; Liu et al., 2008). The carbon dioxide emission of China grew by 82% between 1990 and 2003, while the population only increased by 11% in that same period. A similar story exists for India: the population grew by less than 23% between 1990 and 2003, while the emission of carbon dioxide increased by more than 83% (Chakravarty et al., 2009). The consumption of water and meat in the world is increasing more rapidly than the population 3 . The consumption of water per person is for example threefold higher in the US than in China (Hoekstra and Chapagain, 2007). The African continent has at present the same number of inhabitants as Europe and North America together, over 1 billion. But the total ecological footprint of Europeans and Americans is many times higher than that of Africans (Ewing et al., 2010). Less than 18% of the world population is responsible for over 50% of the global carbon dioxide emission (Chakravarty et al., 2009).

If we are therefore concerned about the impact of the world population on the environment, we can do something about it immediately by tackling our own overconsumption: it’s something we can control and it has an immediate effect. In contrast, we know of the population growth that it will continue for some time anyhow, even if people in poor countries would practice much more birth control than we consider possible at present.

The population explosion has created an increasing migration pressure from the South to the North – and there is also important migration within and between countries in the South. But here as well the message is: the main responsibility doesn’t lie with the population growth but with economic inequality. The primary motive for migration was and is economic disparity: people migrate from regions with no or badly paid labour and a low standard of living to other regions, where one hopes to find work and a higher standard of living (Massey et al., 1993; Hooghe et al., 2008; IMO, 2013). Given the permanent population growth and economical inequality, a further increasing migration pressure is to be expected, irrespective of the national policies adopted.

It is sometimes expected that economic growth and increasing incomes in the South will slow down the migration pressure, but that remains to be seen. After all, it isn’t usually the poorest citizens in developing countries that migrate to rich countries. It is rather the affluent middle class in poor countries that have the means to send their sons and daughters to the North – an investment that can raise a lot of money via remittances to the families in the country of origin (IMO, 2013). There is after all a considerable cost attached to migration, in terms of money and human capital. Not everyone can bear those costs: to migrate you need brains, guts and money. With growing economic development in poor countries, an initial increase in migration pressure from those countries would be expected; the association between social-economic development and emigration is not linearly negative but follows the shape of a J turned upside down: more emigration at the start of economic development and a decline in emigration only with further development (De Haas, 2007).

7 Billion and counting… What is to be done?

A world population that needed some millennia before reaching the number of 1 billion people, but then added some billions more after 1920 in less than a century: the social, cultural, economic and ecological consequences of such an evolution are so complex that they can lead to fear and indifference at the same time. What kind of constructive reaction is possible and productive in view of such an enormous issue?

First of all: we need to invest in education and health care in Africa and elsewhere, not just as a humanitarian target per se but also because it will encourage the spread of birth control. Secondly, we need to encourage and support the empowerment of women, not just via education but also via services for reproductive health. This has triple desirable results for demographics: it will lead to more and more effective birth control, which in itself has a positive effect on the survival of children, which in turn again facilitates birth control.

Thirdly: because of the positive population momentum, the world population will certainly continue to grow in absolute figures, even though the yearly growth rate in percentages is already on the decline for several years. The biggest contribution we could make therefore, with an immediate favourable impact for ourselves and the rest of the world, is to change our consumption pattern and deal with the structural overconsumption of the world’s richest countries.

(1) Unless otherwise specified, all figures in this paragraph are based on the United Nations World Population Prospects, the 2012 Revision, http://esa.un.org/wpp/ . Concerning projections for the future, I reported the results of the Medium Variant. Apart from this variant, there are also high and low variants (those relying on scenarios implying respectively an extremely high and extremely low growth of the population) and a variant in which the fertility rates are fixed at the current levels. It is expected that the actual number will be somewhere between the highest and lowest variant and will be closest to the medium variant. That’s why I only report this latter value.

(2) In demography, the term «fertility» refers to the actual number of live births per women. By contrast, the term fecundity refers to reproductive capacity (irrespective of actual childbearing), see Habbema et al. (2004).

(3) See http://www.unwater.org/water-cooperation-2013/water-cooperation/facts-and-figures

  • Abbasi-Shavazi MJ, McDonald P, Chavoshi M. Dordrecht: Springer; 2009. The Fertility Transition in Iran. Revolution and Reproduction. [ Google Scholar ]
  • Blanc AK. The effect of power in sexual relationships on sexual and reproductive health: an examination of the evidence. Stud Fam Plan. 2001; 32 :189–213. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
  • Chakravarty S, Chikkatur A, de Coninck H, et al. Sharing global CO2 emission reductions among one billion high emitters. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2009; 106 :11884–11888. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
  • Cohen JE. Make secondary education universa. Nature. 2008; 456 :572–573. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
  • De Haas H. International migration, remittances and development: myths and facts. Third World Quarterly. 2007; 26 :1269–1284. [ Google Scholar ]
  • Do M, Kurimoto N. Women’s Empowerment and Choice of Contraceptive Methods in Selected African Countries. Int Perspect Sex Reprod Health. 2012; 38 :23–33. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
  • Espenshade TJ, Olgiati AS, Levin S. On nonstable and stable population momentum. Demography. 2011; 48 :1581–1599. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
  • Ewing B, Moore D, Goldfinger S, Oursler A, et al. Oakland, CA: Global Footprint Network; Ecological Footprint Atlas 2010. [ Google Scholar ]
  • Habbema JDF, Collins J, Leridon H, et al. Towards less confusing terminology in reproductive medicine: a proposal. Hum Reprod. 2004; 19 :1497–1501. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
  • Hoekstra AY, Chapagain AK. Water footprints of nations: Water use by people as a function of their consumption pattern. Water Resources Management. 2007; 21 :35–48. [ Google Scholar ]
  • Hooghe M, Trappers A, Meuleman B, et al. Migration to European countries: A structural explanation of patterns, 1980-2004. International Migration Review. 2008; 42 :476–504. [ Google Scholar ]
  • IMO. World Migration Report 2013. Genève, CH: International Organization for Migration; 2013. [ Google Scholar ]
  • Vienna Yearbook of Population Research. 2012; 10 [ Google Scholar ]
  • Lam D. How the world survived the population bomb: lessons from 50 years of extraordinary demographic history. Demography. 2011; 48 :1231–1262. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
  • Liu J, Yang H, Savenije HHG. China’s move to higher-meat diet hits water security. 2008. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
  • Livi-Bacci M. A Concise History of World Population. 3rd ed. Cambridge (Mass.): Blackwell; 2001. [ Google Scholar ]
  • Massey , DS , Arango J, Hugo G, et al. Theories of international migration: a review and appraisal. Population and Development Review. 1993; 19 :431–466. [ Google Scholar ]
  • Peters GP, Weber CL, Guan D, et al. China’s Growing CO 2 Emissions - A Race between Increasing Consumption and Efficiency Gains. Environ Sci Technol. 2007; 41 [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
  • Smith-Greenaway E. Maternal reading skills and child mortality in Nigeria: a reassessment of why education matters. Demography. 2013; 50 :1551–1561. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
  • UNFPA. The State of World Population 2011. People and Possibilities in a World of 7 Billion. New York: United Nations; [ Google Scholar ]
  • UN. World Population Prospects. The 2012 Revision. Volume I : Comprehensive Tables. New York: United Nations; 2013. [ Google Scholar ]
  • Van Bavel, J. De wereldbevolkingsexplosie en duurzame ontwikkeling: een veldoverzicht. Tijdschrift voor Sociologie. 2004; 25 :227–245. [ Google Scholar ]
  • Current Issue
  • Past Issues
  • Get New Issue Alerts
  • American Academy of Arts 
and Sciences

Global Population Aging: Facts, Challenges, Solutions & Perspectives

global population essay

The rapid aging of populations around the world presents an unprecedented set of challenges: shifting disease burden, increased expenditure on health and long-term care, labor-force shortages, dissaving, and potential problems with old-age income security. We view longer life spans, particularly longer healthy life spans, as an enormous gain for human welfare. The challenges come from the fact that our current institutional and social arrangements are unsuited for aging populations and shifting demographics; our proposed solution is therefore to change our institutions and social arrangements. The first section of this essay provides a statistical overview of global population aging and its contributing factors. The second section outlines some of the major challenges associated with widespread population aging. Finally, the third section of the essay describes various responses to these challenges, both current and prospective, facing individuals, businesses, institutions, and governments.

DAVID E. BLOOM, a Fellow of the American Academy since 2005, is the Clarence James Gamble Professor of Economics and Demography in the Department of Global Health and Population at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. His many publications include recent articles in such journals as  JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association, Finance & Development , and  Science .

DAVID CANNING is the Richard Saltonstall Professor of Population Sciences and Professor of Economics and International Health in the Department of Global Health and Population at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. His many publications include recent articles in such journals as  Journal of Political Economy, Journal of Applied Statistics , and  Journal of International Development .

ALYSSA LUBET is a Research Assistant in the Department of Global Health and Population at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Her research interests include economics, women's health and reproductive health, and population studies.

We are in the midst of an unprecedented transition in global demography. The world’s population is aging rapidly, and older adults compose a larger proportion of the world’s population than ever before–a share that will only increase over the next century. By 2050, the percentage of the United States’ population that is aged sixty years and older will grow from the current figure of about 20 percent to 27 percent. The global number of centenarians worldwide–those aged one hundred years and older–is expected to more than double by 2030, with projections of nearly 3.4 million by 2050. 1  Three major factors are driving this transition: decreasing fertility, increasing longevity, and the aging of large population cohorts.

Falling fertility rates are the main determinant of population aging. Low fertility rates lead to smaller youth cohorts, which create an imbalance in the age structure: older age groups become larger than their younger counterparts. Thanks to accessible and effective birth control, increased child survival, and cultural changes, birth rates have dropped dramatically in the past century. In 1950, the global total fertility rate (TFR), or the average number of children per woman, was about 5; by 2010, that number had dropped by 50 percent. By 2050, the TFR will have dropped even further to about 2.25 children per woman. In many countries, fertility rates are now well below the long-term replacement rate of just over two children per woman.

Changes in fertility rate are accompanied by increased longevity, another driver of population aging. Averaging for sex and location, a child born in 1950 had a life expectancy of only forty-seven years, while an adult who had survived to the age of sixty could expect to live another fourteen years. In contrast, by 2010, life expectancy at birth had increased to seventy years, and continued life expectancy for those aged sixty increased to twenty years. In a number of populations, recent increases in longevity have been attributed to falling rates of tobacco consumption, as well as improvements in medical technologies. 2 By 2050, life expectancy at birth is expected to have risen to nearly seventy-seven years, while life expectancy at age sixty will increase to twenty-two-and-a-half years.

Meanwhile, large population cohorts, such as the United States’ postwar baby boom generation, are moving through middle age and older adulthood. This movement can be seen in Figure 1, which depicts the population of more-developed countries (MDCs) broken down by sex and age group. Males are on the left side of the pyramid and females are on the right. The shifting shape of the population pyramid between the years 2010 and 2050 illustrates the baby boom cohort’s movement from middle into older ages.

These global phenomena–decreasing fertility, increasing longevity, and the aging of large birth cohorts–combine to drive up the percentage of older adults as a share of the global population. In 1950, only 8 percent of the world’s population was sixty years or older; this number increased to 11 percent by 2010. Over the next several decades, this proportion is expected to rise dramatically, reaching a projected 21.2 percent by 2050. The change is even more dramatic for the share of the world’s population aged eighty years or older. This proportion climbed from just 0.6 percent in 1950 to 1.6 percent in 2010, and is projected to make up 4.1 percent of the global population by 2050.

While the population of virtually every country is aging rapidly, there remains considerable variation at both regional and country levels, with strong correlations to differing income levels. MDCs trend toward low fertility and high longevity, and less-developed countries (LDCs) trend toward the opposite. At the low end of the fertility range are the MDCs found in Eu - rope and East Asia, with Bosnia, Herzegovina, and Singapore tied for the lowest TFR of 1.28 children per woman. Meanwhile, Sub-Saharan Africa has a regional TFR of just over 5, while also hosting the highest country-level fertility rates: Somalia (6.61), Mali (6.86), and Niger (7.58). As for longevity, Japan is in the lead with a current life expectancy at birth of eighty-three-and-a-half years, in stark contrast to Sierra Leone, where life expectancy at birth is slightly over forty-five years.

Tables 1 and 2 depict the percent of the elderly population in the world’s most and least population-aged countries, now (2010) and projected in the future (2050). The 2050 figures are based on a medium fertility projection, which assumes that fertility in all major areas will stabilize at replacement level (at slightly over two children per woman). This comparison reveals stark differences in age profiles between countries. For example, currently 23 percent of Germany’s population is aged sixty-five years and older, while the corresponding figure for Qatar (with its large expatriate worker population) is only 1 percent. These rankings are projected to shift considerably in the next half century, with only Japan holding over in the top five most population-aged nations. . . .

Access the full volume here . 

  • 1 Unless otherwise stated, population figures are drawn from United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs Population Division, Population Estimates and Projections Section, World Population Prospects: The 2012 Revision (New York: United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2014), http://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/index.htm.
  • 2 Colin D. Mathers, Gretchen A. Stevens, Ties Boerma, Richard A. White, and Martin I. Tobias, “Causes of International Increases in Older Age Life Expectancy,” The Lancet 6736 (14) (2014).

Home / Essay Samples / Social Issues / Poverty

World Population Essay Examples and Topics

Global issues of overpopulation and ways to solve them.

As of 2019, the world’s population is 7.7 billion. The number of fertility and life expectancy is the main factor that makes up population growth. You may ask why is our planet overpopulated? There are several reasons why overpopulation occurs. According to an article I…

What Will the World Be Like in 100 Years

What the earth could possible look like and what will the world be like in 100 Years? In 100 Years and In 100 years the Earth will pretty much almost look the same but significant consequences are to come if nothing is put into place…

The Subcontinent Populace Has Developed by Multiple Times

Populace blast can be named as the unexpected increment in the number of inhabitants in world. In the twentieth century, the total populace has expanded up by a few times and the Subcontinent populace has developed by multiple times. This expansion in the populace goes…

Earths Growing Population in Our World

There has been a rapid increase in the world’s population in this century compared to the last century. Right now, the world population is about seven million and counting, and it will continue to grow. The industrial revolution sparked a big jump in the number…

Effects of Overpopulation in Today's World

In 2019, There are 76 billion people around the world and increased by 1% compared with last year, according to the world better. The population has increased sharply which is a global problem with living, economic and environmental issues. Especially, Vietnam is the 15th country…

The Impact of Overpopulation on the Environment

The earth’s capacity is estimated to be 9 to 10 billion persons. Every day the earth’s population fluctuates as persons die and babies are born. Over the last 2.5 centuries, the population has multiplied sevenfold and is estimated to reach 9.8 billion by 2050. By…

The Socioeconomic Implications of Falls

Due to advancements in healthcare, life expectancy is increasing, particularly within the Western world. In tandem with a recent trend of decreasing birth rates, population structures within many Western countries are set to comprise of a larger proportion of older adults (65+ years of age)….

Overview of Harmful Algal Bloom (Hab) Research

The workshop opened with an introduction covering the significance of HAB research, given the socioeconomic and environmental impact of HAB events, with special focus on the Western Pacific region, in which South East Asian countries are located. With growing global population and demand and the…

Words & Pages

global population essay

We use cookies to offer you the best experience. By continuing, we’ll assume you agree with our Cookies policy .

Choose your writer among 300 professionals!

You cannot copy content from our website. If you need this sample, insert an email and we'll deliver it to you.

Please, provide real email address.

This email is exists.

Essay on Population for Students and Children

500+ words essay on population.

Population refers to the total number of beings living in a particular area. Population helps us get an estimate of the number of beings and how to act accordingly. For instance, if we know the particular population of a city, we can estimate the number of resources it needs. Similarly, we can do the same for animals. If we look at the human population, we see how it is becoming a cause of concern. In particular, the third world countries suffer the most from population explosion. As it is the resources there are limited and the ever-increasing population just makes it worse. On the other hand, there is a problem of low population in many regions.

India population crisis

India faces a major population crisis due to the growing population. If we were to estimate, we can say that almost 17% of the population of the world lives in India alone. India ranks second in the list of most populated countries.

Essay on Population

Furthermore, India is also one of the countries with low literacy rates. This factor contributes largely to the population explosion in India. It is usually seen that the illiterate and poor classes have a greater number of children. This happens mainly because they do not have sufficient knowledge about birth control methods . In addition, more people in a family are equals to more helping hands. This means they have better chances of earning.

Moreover, we also see how these classes practice early marriage. This makes it one of the major reasons for a greater population. People marry off their young daughters to men way older than them for money or to get free from their responsibility. The young girl bears children from an early age and continues to do so for a long time.

As India is facing a shortage of resources, the population crisis just adds on to the problem. It makes it quite hard for every citizen to get an equal share of resources. This makes the poor poorer and the rich richer.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Impact of Population Explosion

global population essay

Subsequently, pollution levels are on the rise because of the population explosion. As more and more humans are purchasing automobiles, our air is getting polluted. Moreover, the increased need calls for faster rates of industrialization. These industries pollute our water and lands, harming and degrading our quality of life.

In addition, our climate is also facing drastic changes because of human activities. Climate change is real and it is happening. It is impacting our lives very harmfully and must be monitored now. Global warming which occurs mostly due to activities by humans is one of the factors for climate change.

Humans are still able to withstand the climate and adapt accordingly, but animals cannot. This is why wildlife is getting extinct as well.

In other words, man always thinks about his well-being and becomes selfish. He overlooks the impact he is creating on the surroundings. If the population rates continue to rise at this rate, then we won’t be able to survive for long. As with this population growth comes harmful consequences. Therefore, we must take measures to control the population.

{ “@context”: “https://schema.org”, “@type”: “FAQPage”, “mainEntity”: [{ “@type”: “Question”, “name”: “Why is India having a population crisis?”, “acceptedAnswer”: { “@type”: “Answer”, “text”: “India suffers from a population crisis because the literacy rate is very low. This causes other problems which contribute to population growth.” } }, { “@type”: “Question”, “name”: “What is the impact of population explosion?”, “acceptedAnswer”: { “@type”: “Answer”, “text”:”Population explosion has a very harmful impact on wildlife and vegetation. Animals are getting extinct due to it and climate change is also happening.”} }] }

Customize your course in 30 seconds

Which class are you in.

tutor

  • Travelling Essay
  • Picnic Essay
  • Our Country Essay
  • My Parents Essay
  • Essay on Favourite Personality
  • Essay on Memorable Day of My Life
  • Essay on Knowledge is Power
  • Essay on Gurpurab
  • Essay on My Favourite Season
  • Essay on Types of Sports

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Download the App

Google Play

share this!

February 8, 2024

This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

fact-checked

trusted source

written by researcher(s)

Population can't be ignored—it has to be part of the policy solution to our world's problems, says researcher

by Jenny Stewart, The Conversation

Population can't be ignored—it has to be part of the policy solution to our world's problems

There is a growing consensus that environmental problems, particularly the effects of climate change, pose a grave challenge to humanity. Pollution, habitat destruction, intractable waste issues and, for many, deteriorating quality of life should be added to the list.

Economic growth is the chief culprit. We forget, though, that environmental impacts are a consequence of per capita consumption multiplied by the number of people doing the consuming. Our own numbers matter.

Population growth threatens environments at global, national and regional scales. Yet the policy agenda either ignores human population, or fosters alarm when perfectly natural trends such as declining fertility and longer lifespans cause growth rates to fall and populations to age.

That there are still too many of us is a problem few want to talk about. Fifty years ago, population was considered to be an issue , not only for the developing world , but for the planet as a whole. Since then, the so-called green revolution in agriculture made it possible to feed many more people. But the costs of these practices, which relied heavily on pesticide and fertilizer use and relatively few crops, are only now beginning to be understood.

The next 30 years will be critical. The most recent United Nations projections point to a global population of 9.7 billion by 2050 and 10.4 billion by 2100. There are 8 billion of us now. Another 2 billion will bring already stressed ecosystems to the point of collapse.

It's the whole world's problem

Many would agree overpopulation is a problem in many developing countries, where large families keep people poor. But there are too many of us in the developed world, too. Per person, people in high-income countries consume 60% more resources than in upper-middle-income countries and more than 13 times as much as people in low-income countries.

From 1995 to 2020, the UK population, for example, grew by 9.1 million. A crowded little island, particularly around London and the south-east, became more crowded still.

Similarly, the Netherlands, one of the most densely populated countries , had just under 10 million inhabitants in 1950 and 17.6 million in 2020. In the 1950s, the government encouraged emigration to reduce population densities . By the 21st century, another 5 million people in a tiny country certainly caused opposition to immigration, but concern was wrongly focused on the ethnic composition of the increase. The principal problem of overpopulation received little attention.

Australia is celebrated as "a land of boundless plains to share". In reality it's a small country that consists of big distances.

As former NSW Premier Bob Carr predicted some years ago, as Australia's population swelled, the extra numbers would be housed in spreading suburbs that would gobble up farmland nearest our cities and threaten coastal and near-coastal habitats. How right he was. The outskirts of Sydney and Melbourne are carpeted in big, ugly houses whose inhabitants will be forever car-dependent.

Doing nothing has a high cost

The longer we do nothing about population growth, the worse it gets. More people now inevitably mean more in the future than there would otherwise have been.

Population can't be ignored—it has to be part of the policy solution to our world's problems

We live very long lives, on average, so once we're born, we tend to stick around. It takes a while for falling birthrates to have any impact.

And when they do, the population boosters respond with cries of alarm. The norm is seen as a young or youngish population, while the elderly are presented as a parasitical drag upon the young.

Falling reproduction rates should not be regarded as a disaster but as a natural occurrence to which we can adapt.

Recently, we have been told Australia must have high population growth, because of workforce shortages. It is rarely stated exactly what these shortages are, and why we cannot train enough people to fill them.

Population and development are connected in subtle ways, at global, national and regional scales. At each level, stabilizing the population holds the key to a more environmentally secure and equitable future.

For those of us who value the natural world for its own sake, the matter is clear—we should make room for other species. For those who do not care about other species, the reality is that without a more thoughtful approach to our own numbers, planetary systems will continue to break down.

Let women choose to have fewer children

So, what to do? If we assume the Earth's population is going to exceed 10 billion, the type of thinking behind this assumption means we are sleepwalking our way into a nightmarish future when a better one is within our grasp.

A radical rethink of the global economy is needed to address climate change. In relation to population growth , if we can move beyond unhelpful ideologies, the solution is already available.

People are not stupid. In particular, women are not stupid. Where women are given the choice, they restrict the number of children they have. This freedom is as basic a human right as you can get.

A much-needed demographic transition could be under way right now, if only the population boosters would let it happen.

Those who urge greater rates of reproduction, whether they realize it or not, are serving only the short-term interests of developers and some religious authorities, for whom big societies mean more power for themselves. It is a masculinist fantasy for which most women, and many men, have long been paying a huge price.

Women will show the way, if only we would let them.

Provided by The Conversation

Explore further

Feedback to editors

global population essay

Widely used machine learning models reproduce dataset bias: Study

3 minutes ago

global population essay

Targeting 'undruggable' proteins promises new approach for treating neurodegenerative diseases

10 minutes ago

global population essay

Examining viruses that can help 'dial up' carbon capture in the sea

18 hours ago

global population essay

New research helps create new antibiotic that evades bacterial resistance

20 hours ago

global population essay

From crop to cup: A new genetic map could make your morning coffee more climate resilient

22 hours ago

global population essay

Saturday Citations: Einstein revisited (again); Atlantic geological predictions; how the brain handles echoes

Feb 17, 2024

global population essay

CERN researchers measure speed of sound in the quark–gluon plasma more precisely than ever before

Feb 16, 2024

global population essay

NASA's final tally shows spacecraft returned double the amount of asteroid rubble

global population essay

Harnessing light with hemispherical shells for improved photovoltaics

global population essay

New species of pirate spiders discovered on South Atlantic island

Relevant physicsforums posts, interesting anecdotes in the history of physics.

4 hours ago

Music to Lift Your Soul: 4 Genres & Honorable Mention

6 hours ago

Cover songs versus the original track, which ones are better?

7 hours ago

A Rain Song -- Favorite one? Memorable one? One you like?

11 hours ago

Two-tone, Ska rock

What are your favorite disco "classics".

More from Art, Music, History, and Linguistics

Related Stories

global population essay

Demography and reproductive rights are environmental issues: Insights from sub-Saharan Africa

Feb 8, 2024

global population essay

8 billion humans alive today—let's talk overpopulation, and why low-income countries aren't the issue

Nov 15, 2022

global population essay

Making fewer babies: the demographic decline

Jan 17, 2023

global population essay

Planet Earth: 8 billion humans and dwindling resources

Nov 7, 2022

global population essay

UN projects world population will reach 8 billion on Nov. 15

Jul 12, 2022

global population essay

Population growth is the main driver of increased carbon emissions, study finds

Apr 24, 2023

Recommended for you

global population essay

Suicide rates in the US are on the rise. A new study offers surprising reasons why

Feb 15, 2024

global population essay

Nearly 15% of Americans deny climate change is real, AI study finds

Feb 14, 2024

global population essay

Did Eurasia's dominant East-West axis 'turn the fortunes of history'?

global population essay

Short corrective comments can help social media users to spot false information, study shows

Feb 13, 2024

global population essay

High-profile incidents of police brutality sway public opinion more than performance of local law enforcement: Study

global population essay

Study of Indigenous and local communities finds happiness doesn't cost much

Feb 5, 2024

Let us know if there is a problem with our content

Use this form if you have come across a typo, inaccuracy or would like to send an edit request for the content on this page. For general inquiries, please use our contact form . For general feedback, use the public comments section below (please adhere to guidelines ).

Please select the most appropriate category to facilitate processing of your request

Thank you for taking time to provide your feedback to the editors.

Your feedback is important to us. However, we do not guarantee individual replies due to the high volume of messages.

E-mail the story

Your email address is used only to let the recipient know who sent the email. Neither your address nor the recipient's address will be used for any other purpose. The information you enter will appear in your e-mail message and is not retained by Phys.org in any form.

Newsletter sign up

Get weekly and/or daily updates delivered to your inbox. You can unsubscribe at any time and we'll never share your details to third parties.

More information Privacy policy

Donate and enjoy an ad-free experience

We keep our content available to everyone. Consider supporting Science X's mission by getting a premium account.

E-mail newsletter

Talk to our experts

1800-120-456-456

  • Population Essay

ffImage

Introduction to Population

Population is a very interesting topic to learn. There is no denying the fact that the population of any country is a very strong indicator of how exactly the country will function in the future and what its capabilities are as a nation. Leaders of the world pay a lot of attention to their country’s population for the same reason. The population and the skills that they possess are perhaps some of the most essential assets for any country. The following article is an essay on the topic of population and has been structured in a way that students of all ages can learn and understand the key points that they need to mention whenever they are writing an essay like this. 

Brief on Population

When we talk about a country’s population, we are talking about a lot of things. We are talking about its future workforce, the people that will build the country as a place to live and grow in, we definitely are talking about the future of the entire country. Taking India’s example, when we talk about the population of the country, we are talking about the future of the dream that our freedom fighters dreamt for us as a nation. Together, the entire population of a country has the potential to change the entire landscape of the kinds of work, and jobs that they do. 

The population of a country is responsible for the economical changes and growth in the country and hence is very important. It is also very important to take care of this population. The population needs the right kind of food, healthy environment to grow in and a great and comfortable lifestyle right from the start. Is that something that is possible for everyone? We all know the answer to this. In a country like India, where income disparities are massive, there is no chance for every single section of the population to have a good lifestyle right from the start that can help them grow as individuals. 

The same applies for other countries as well. Every country has an income disparity among the people that live in it and this is what makes the topic of population so interesting. We already know that it is the biggest asset that any country can have, but every country must plan and strategize well to take care of this population so that every single need is being fulfilled. This not only helps the country flourish as a whole, but also increases its chances of becoming successful in the future. 

Population Explosion

The current population of India is around 140 crores. According to certain reports, in the next few years, there will be a solid growth of population in India, and globally too.

The population is the total number of human beings living in a city or the country. It allows knowing how much resources are required by this population to fulfil and other plans needed. Year by year, there has been an explosion of population, which is making it difficult to provide resources to every person living in the country. Low literacy, early marriage and demand for family growth are some of the reasons behind the explosion of the population.  India is the primary ground of population explosion. It covers 17% of the population of the world and is the most populated country.

Reasons Behind the Growth of the Population

There are many reasons for the growth of the population. The low literacy rate is one of the reasons behind this explosion. For example, in India, the literacy rate is relatively low in many states. Many people living in the village fail to complete education and have less knowledge about birth control. They keep on expanding their family.

Moreover, they do not carry much knowledge about birth control techniques or medication. This lack of understanding further leads to a population explosion.

Another primary reason behind the growth of population is child marriage. The custom of child marriage is still followed in many parts of the country. Parents marry off their daughter at an early age, and at a young age, these girls get pregnant. This process continues for a long time.

One of the reasons behind this growth is there are not strict laws in India, unlike other countries. This also makes it hard for citizens to get an equal share of resources.

Impact of Population Explosion

Population explosion causes harm, not only to citizens of the country, but also nature. Increase in population means the need for more space to live, resulting in deforestation. Many cities have lost the green zone to fill it with urban living. Deforestation is leading to the extinction of species and other resources.  Animals are losing their homes, which makes them encroach on cities taking the lives of people.

Subsequently, an increase in population is also leading to population. More and more people are buying vehicles for their convenience, which is resulting in pollution. Massive traffic, congestion on roads and other negative scenes are witnessed in cities.

Population increase also calls for industrialization, which invites pollution in all areas. A country like India is now witnessing a massive problem of pollution and global warming.

Irregular distribution of food to all populations is another significant impact. Many families in rural areas do not get proper food to eat. Many poor kids go to sleep without eating food. This irregular distribution of food is not the scenario only in India, but other developing countries.

How to Control the Population?

One of the ways to control the population is to educate people about its ill effects on the country's resources. Government, along with NGOs, need to visit every rural area of the country to inform people about population control.

Providing birth control kits, education to kids and monetary benefits to families successful in restricting birth can do the needful.

We, humans, often forget how we are going to suffer if the population keeps exploding. If the number keeps rising, then it will be difficult to survive. Citizens need to understand the negative impact of the population explosion. Taking the right measures and keeping the resources in mind will help to control the population.

arrow-right

FAQs on Population Essay

1. How can the population affect climate change?

A growing population can have a significant impact on climate change. The buildup of human-generated greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is one of the effects of increasing human population. According to one study, there is a deep relationship between population growth and global warming. One child can produce 20 times more greenhouse. Similarly, a child born in the US will add up to 9441 carbon dioxide. This is certainly the most chilling effect of increasing population.

Global warming is the most common fear for today and the coming generation. To stop its growth, controlling the population is essential.

2. How population growth affects the environment?

There is a direct impact of population on the environment. More the population, the more resources are needed. There is a requirement that more space means more deforestation. Population growth also leads to an increase in greenhouse gases, which can affect this planet earth.

Rising sea levels in the coastal region are seen, which eventually leads to flooding. Like these, there are many impacts on the environment due to population growth. In many cities in developing countries, there is a shortage of space. People are not able to find space to live. Moreover, they find it hard to get clean water and are exposed to air pollution and other environmental issues.

3. Will the population increase post-lockdown?

According to the UN report, India will witness a baby boom post-lockdown. The report said, "The pandemic could strain health care capacities for mothers and newborns.” There is an estimate of 116 million babies to be born post-lockdown. The case is not just about India, but China (13.5 million births), Nigeria (6.4 million) and Indonesia (4 million). Post-lockdown, it could be a testing time for developing countries on how the population will affect resources.

4. What are some things that shall be considered while writing an essay on the topic of “Population”?

Whenever you are writing an essay on this topic, make sure that you are highlighting points like how population grows, the impact of this growth, ways to control population and the reasons why population of a country is so important. Once this is done and when you have an idea of what you need to be writing about, start building upon these points. By simply doing this, you will be able to write a brilliant essay. 

  • CBSE Class 10th
  • CBSE Class 12th
  • UP Board 10th
  • UP Board 12th
  • Bihar Board 10th
  • Bihar Board 12th
  • Top Schools in India
  • Top Schools in Delhi
  • Top Schools in Mumbai
  • Top Schools in Chennai
  • Top Schools in Hyderabad
  • Top Schools in Kolkata
  • Top Schools in Pune
  • Top Schools in Bangalore

Products & Resources

  • JEE Main Knockout April
  • Free Sample Papers
  • Free Ebooks
  • NCERT Notes
  • NCERT Syllabus
  • NCERT Books
  • RD Sharma Solutions
  • Navodaya Vidyalaya Admission 2024-25
  • NCERT Solutions
  • NCERT Solutions for Class 12
  • NCERT Solutions for Class 11
  • NCERT solutions for Class 10
  • NCERT solutions for Class 9
  • NCERT solutions for Class 8
  • NCERT Solutions for Class 7
  • JEE Main 2024
  • JEE Advanced 2024
  • BITSAT 2024
  • View All Engineering Exams
  • Colleges Accepting B.Tech Applications
  • Top Engineering Colleges in India
  • Engineering Colleges in India
  • Engineering Colleges in Tamil Nadu
  • Engineering Colleges Accepting JEE Main
  • Top IITs in India
  • Top NITs in India
  • Top IIITs in India
  • JEE Main College Predictor
  • JEE Main Rank Predictor
  • MHT CET College Predictor
  • AP EAMCET College Predictor
  • TS EAMCET College Predictor
  • KCET College Predictor
  • JEE Advanced College Predictor
  • View All College Predictors
  • JEE Main Question Paper
  • JEE Main Mock Test
  • JEE Main Answer Key
  • JEE Main Syllabus
  • Download E-Books and Sample Papers
  • Compare Colleges
  • B.Tech College Applications
  • JEE Main Result
  • MAH MBA CET Exam
  • View All Management Exams

Colleges & Courses

  • MBA College Admissions
  • MBA Colleges in India
  • Top IIMs Colleges in India
  • Top Online MBA Colleges in India
  • MBA Colleges Accepting XAT Score
  • BBA Colleges in India
  • XAT College Predictor 2024
  • SNAP College Predictor 2023
  • NMAT College Predictor
  • MAT College Predictor 2024
  • CMAT College Predictor 2024
  • CAT Percentile Predictor 2023
  • CAT 2023 College Predictor
  • CMAT 2024 Registration
  • XAT Cut Off 2024
  • XAT Score vs Percentile 2024
  • CAT Score Vs Percentile
  • Download Helpful Ebooks
  • List of Popular Branches
  • QnA - Get answers to your doubts
  • IIM Fees Structure
  • AIIMS Nursing
  • Top Medical Colleges in India
  • Top Medical Colleges in India accepting NEET Score
  • Medical Colleges accepting NEET
  • List of Medical Colleges in India
  • List of AIIMS Colleges In India
  • Medical Colleges in Maharashtra
  • Medical Colleges in India Accepting NEET PG
  • NEET College Predictor
  • NEET PG College Predictor
  • NEET MDS College Predictor
  • DNB CET College Predictor
  • DNB PDCET College Predictor
  • NEET Application Form 2024
  • NEET PG Application Form 2024
  • NEET Cut off
  • NEET Online Preparation
  • Download Helpful E-books
  • LSAT India 2024
  • Colleges Accepting Admissions
  • Top Law Colleges in India
  • Law College Accepting CLAT Score
  • List of Law Colleges in India
  • Top Law Colleges in Delhi
  • Top Law Collages in Indore
  • Top Law Colleges in Chandigarh
  • Top Law Collages in Lucknow

Predictors & E-Books

  • CLAT College Predictor
  • MHCET Law ( 5 Year L.L.B) College Predictor
  • AILET College Predictor
  • Sample Papers
  • Compare Law Collages
  • Careers360 Youtube Channel
  • CLAT 2024 Exam Live
  • CLAT Result 2024
  • AIBE 18 Result 2023
  • SEED Result 2024
  • UCEED Answer Key 2024
  • NIFT Admit Card
  • CEED Answer Key 2024

Animation Courses

  • Animation Courses in India
  • Animation Courses in Bangalore
  • Animation Courses in Mumbai
  • Animation Courses in Pune
  • Animation Courses in Chennai
  • Animation Courses in Hyderabad
  • Design Colleges in India
  • Fashion Design Colleges in Bangalore
  • Fashion Design Colleges in Mumbai
  • Fashion Design Colleges in Pune
  • Fashion Design Colleges in Delhi
  • Fashion Design Colleges in Hyderabad
  • Fashion Design Colleges in India
  • Top Design Colleges in India
  • Free Design E-books
  • List of Branches
  • Careers360 Youtube channel
  • NIFT College Predictor
  • IPU CET BJMC
  • JMI Mass Communication Entrance Exam
  • IIMC Entrance Exam
  • Media & Journalism colleges in Delhi
  • Media & Journalism colleges in Bangalore
  • Media & Journalism colleges in Mumbai
  • List of Media & Journalism Colleges in India
  • CA Intermediate
  • CA Foundation
  • CS Executive
  • CS Professional
  • Difference between CA and CS
  • Difference between CA and CMA
  • CA Full form
  • CMA Full form
  • CS Full form
  • CA Salary In India

Top Courses & Careers

  • Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com)
  • Master of Commerce (M.Com)
  • Company Secretary
  • Cost Accountant
  • Charted Accountant
  • Credit Manager
  • Financial Advisor
  • Top Commerce Colleges in India
  • Top Government Commerce Colleges in India
  • Top Private Commerce Colleges in India
  • Top M.Com Colleges in Mumbai
  • Top B.Com Colleges in India
  • IT Colleges in Tamil Nadu
  • IT Colleges in Uttar Pradesh
  • MCA Colleges in India
  • BCA Colleges in India

Quick Links

  • Information Technology Courses
  • Programming Courses
  • Web Development Courses
  • Data Analytics Courses
  • Big Data Analytics Courses
  • RUHS Pharmacy Admission Test
  • Top Pharmacy Colleges in India
  • Pharmacy Colleges in Pune
  • Pharmacy Colleges in Mumbai
  • Colleges Accepting GPAT Score
  • Pharmacy Colleges in Lucknow
  • List of Pharmacy Colleges in Nagpur
  • GPAT Result
  • GPAT 2024 Admit Card
  • GPAT Question Papers
  • NCHMCT JEE 2024
  • Mah BHMCT CET
  • Top Hotel Management Colleges in Delhi
  • Top Hotel Management Colleges in Hyderabad
  • Top Hotel Management Colleges in Mumbai
  • Top Hotel Management Colleges in Tamil Nadu
  • Top Hotel Management Colleges in Maharashtra
  • B.Sc Hotel Management
  • Hotel Management
  • Diploma in Hotel Management and Catering Technology

Diploma Colleges

  • Top Diploma Colleges in Maharashtra
  • UPSC IAS 2024
  • SSC CGL 2024
  • IBPS RRB 2024
  • Previous Year Sample Papers
  • Free Competition E-books
  • Sarkari Result
  • QnA- Get your doubts answered
  • UPSC Previous Year Sample Papers
  • CTET Previous Year Sample Papers
  • SBI Clerk Previous Year Sample Papers
  • NDA Previous Year Sample Papers

Upcoming Events

  • NDA Application Form 2024
  • UPSC IAS Application Form 2024
  • CDS Application Form 2024
  • CTET Admit card 2024
  • HP TET Result 2023
  • SSC GD Constable Admit Card 2024
  • UPTET Notification 2024
  • SBI Clerk Result 2024

Other Exams

  • SSC CHSL 2024
  • UP PCS 2024
  • UGC NET 2024
  • RRB NTPC 2024
  • IBPS PO 2024
  • IBPS Clerk 2024
  • IBPS SO 2024
  • Top University in USA
  • Top University in Canada
  • Top University in Ireland
  • Top Universities in UK
  • Top Universities in Australia
  • Best MBA Colleges in Abroad
  • Business Management Studies Colleges

Top Countries

  • Study in USA
  • Study in UK
  • Study in Canada
  • Study in Australia
  • Study in Ireland
  • Study in Germany
  • Study in China
  • Study in Europe

Student Visas

  • Student Visa Canada
  • Student Visa UK
  • Student Visa USA
  • Student Visa Australia
  • Student Visa Germany
  • Student Visa New Zealand
  • Student Visa Ireland
  • CUET PG 2024
  • IGNOU B.Ed Admission 2024
  • DU Admission
  • UP B.Ed JEE 2024
  • DDU Entrance Exam
  • IIT JAM 2024
  • ICAR AIEEA Exam
  • Universities in India 2023
  • Top Universities in India 2023
  • Top Colleges in India
  • Top Universities in Uttar Pradesh 2023
  • Top Universities in Bihar 2023
  • Top Universities in Madhya Pradesh 2023
  • Top Universities in Tamil Nadu 2023
  • Central Universities in India
  • CUET PG Admit Card 2024
  • IGNOU Date Sheet
  • CUET Mock Test 2024
  • CUET Application Form 2024
  • CUET PG Syllabus 2024
  • CUET Participating Universities 2024
  • CUET Previous Year Question Paper
  • ICAR AIEEA Previous Year Question Papers
  • E-Books and Sample Papers
  • CUET Exam Pattern 2024
  • CUET Exam Date 2024
  • CUET Syllabus 2024
  • IGNOU Exam Form 2024
  • IGNOU Result 2023
  • CUET PG Courses 2024

Engineering Preparation

  • Knockout JEE Main 2024
  • Test Series JEE Main 2024
  • JEE Main 2024 Rank Booster

Medical Preparation

  • Knockout NEET 2024
  • Test Series NEET 2024
  • Rank Booster NEET 2024

Online Courses

  • JEE Main One Month Course
  • NEET One Month Course
  • IBSAT Free Mock Tests
  • IIT JEE Foundation Course
  • Knockout BITSAT 2024
  • Career Guidance Tool

Top Streams

  • IT & Software Certification Courses
  • Engineering and Architecture Certification Courses
  • Programming And Development Certification Courses
  • Business and Management Certification Courses
  • Marketing Certification Courses
  • Health and Fitness Certification Courses
  • Design Certification Courses

Specializations

  • Digital Marketing Certification Courses
  • Cyber Security Certification Courses
  • Artificial Intelligence Certification Courses
  • Business Analytics Certification Courses
  • Data Science Certification Courses
  • Cloud Computing Certification Courses
  • Machine Learning Certification Courses
  • View All Certification Courses
  • UG Degree Courses
  • PG Degree Courses
  • Short Term Courses
  • Free Courses
  • Online Degrees and Diplomas
  • Compare Courses

Top Providers

  • Coursera Courses
  • Udemy Courses
  • Edx Courses
  • Swayam Courses
  • upGrad Courses
  • Simplilearn Courses
  • Great Learning Courses

Popular Searches

Access premium articles, webinars, resources to make the best decisions for career, course, exams, scholarships, study abroad and much more with

Plan, Prepare & Make the Best Career Choices

World Population Day Essay

In 1987, there was an event called the "Five Billion Day", to recognize the time that human populations broke through the five billion mark. In the 20th century alone, world populations increased to 6 billion. Here are some sample essays on world population day.

100 Words Essay On World Population Day

On July 11, the world observes World Population Day. This year's theme is "Investing in Youth." World Population Day is intended to increase awareness and educate people about global population issues. It is important to remember that population growth is not just a problem for developing countries. In fact, the more developed a country becomes, the more people it can support. But that doesn't mean that the issue isn't worth addressing. By raising awareness and working together to find solutions, we can make sure that everyone has access to the resources they need to thrive, regardless of where they live.

World Population Day Essay

200 Words Essay On World Population Day

The world's population is ballooning, and with it comes mounting global challenges. You might be wondering: What is the world doing to address this population explosion?

What Is World Population Day?

World Population Day, a day designated by the United Nations to raise awareness about global population growth and its effects on social and economic development. The date was selected because it coincides with the day that world population passed the 7 billion mark. And according to the UN, it's estimated that we'll reach 9.7 billion by 2050. That's a lot of utilisation of resources since with population growth comes increased pressure on resources like food, water and energy.

Global Challenges From Population Growth

On July 11th, we commemorate World Population Day to bring attention to these challenges and to promote sustainable solutions. This year's focus is on the central role of young people in the population growth and sustainable development.

As the world's population nears 8 billion, it's more important than ever to ensure that everyone has access to quality education, health care and other basic needs. We need to empower young people with the knowledge and resources they need to make informed decisions about their own futures.

500 Words Essay On World Population Day

On World Population Day, it's important to reflect on how we can best manage population growth in a way that benefits everyone.

Positive and Negative Effects of Population Growth

The growth of the world's population is often viewed in a negative light. And with good reason: the more people there are on this planet, the more competition for resources there is, which can lead to increased poverty and inequality. But population growth can also have some positive effects.

When more people are born, it means more workers are entering the workforce, which can help to spur economic growth. Additionally, as countries become more populous, they tend to become more prosperous and developed. So while population growth does have its drawbacks, it's important to remember that it also has its benefits.

What Can We Do to Reduce Population Growth?

So what can we do to reduce population growth? Here are some strategies that have helped in the past and could work in the future:

Empowering women and girls through providing them with access to education and equal opportunities.

Supporting sustainable agriculture initiatives, which promote more efficient farming practices.

Ensuring access to clean water and sanitation facilities, which are key for reducing infant mortality rates.

These strategies may not directly address population growth, but they can help increase quality of life for people around the world, which is an important factor when it comes to reducing population growth.

How Do We Sustainably Manage Population Growth?

With World Population Day, it's important to think not only about the current population and the issues surrounding its growth, but also how we can sustainably manage population growth in the future.

One way to approach this is through education and family planning. By providing more access to education and knowledge about contraception, we can help empower individuals to make decisions that feel right for them – be it having larger or smaller families.

Additionally, offering financial support for those who choose to have fewer children can help contribute to individuals making more sustainable choices.

We need to do more than just create awareness through - effective solutions require proper funding and policy support. It's essential that world leaders come together on a global scale and take concrete steps to ensure that everyone has access to the resources they need when it comes to making decisions about family size.

Celebrating World Population Day: Takeaways

So, now that you know about World Population Day, what can you do to make a difference? Here are some ideas:

Share information on social media | Use the hashtag #WorldPopulationDay to raise awareness of the day and call attention to the issue of population growth.

Get involved in advocacy work | Contact your local representatives and urge them to work on initiatives that would help promote family planning and reduce global poverty.

Taking action is the only way we can make a real difference, so be sure to get involved in whatever capacity you can! Celebrate World Population Day by educating yourself about population issues, raising awareness, and taking positive steps towards reducing world poverty and increasing access to family planning resources.

Explore Career Options (By Industry)

  • Construction
  • Entertainment
  • Manufacturing
  • Information Technology

Data Administrator

Database professionals use software to store and organise data such as financial information, and customer shipping records. Individuals who opt for a career as data administrators ensure that data is available for users and secured from unauthorised sales. DB administrators may work in various types of industries. It may involve computer systems design, service firms, insurance companies, banks and hospitals.

Bio Medical Engineer

The field of biomedical engineering opens up a universe of expert chances. An Individual in the biomedical engineering career path work in the field of engineering as well as medicine, in order to find out solutions to common problems of the two fields. The biomedical engineering job opportunities are to collaborate with doctors and researchers to develop medical systems, equipment, or devices that can solve clinical problems. Here we will be discussing jobs after biomedical engineering, how to get a job in biomedical engineering, biomedical engineering scope, and salary. 

Database Architect

If you are intrigued by the programming world and are interested in developing communications networks then a career as database architect may be a good option for you. Data architect roles and responsibilities include building design models for data communication networks. Wide Area Networks (WANs), local area networks (LANs), and intranets are included in the database networks. It is expected that database architects will have in-depth knowledge of a company's business to develop a network to fulfil the requirements of the organisation. Stay tuned as we look at the larger picture and give you more information on what is db architecture, why you should pursue database architecture, what to expect from such a degree and what your job opportunities will be after graduation. Here, we will be discussing how to become a data architect. Students can visit NIT Trichy , IIT Kharagpur , JMI New Delhi . 

Ethical Hacker

A career as ethical hacker involves various challenges and provides lucrative opportunities in the digital era where every giant business and startup owns its cyberspace on the world wide web. Individuals in the ethical hacker career path try to find the vulnerabilities in the cyber system to get its authority. If he or she succeeds in it then he or she gets its illegal authority. Individuals in the ethical hacker career path then steal information or delete the file that could affect the business, functioning, or services of the organization.

Data Analyst

The invention of the database has given fresh breath to the people involved in the data analytics career path. Analysis refers to splitting up a whole into its individual components for individual analysis. Data analysis is a method through which raw data are processed and transformed into information that would be beneficial for user strategic thinking.

Data are collected and examined to respond to questions, evaluate hypotheses or contradict theories. It is a tool for analyzing, transforming, modeling, and arranging data with useful knowledge, to assist in decision-making and methods, encompassing various strategies, and is used in different fields of business, research, and social science.

Water Manager

A career as water manager needs to provide clean water, preventing flood damage, and disposing of sewage and other wastes. He or she also repairs and maintains structures that control the flow of water, such as reservoirs, sea defense walls, and pumping stations. In addition to these, the Manager has other responsibilities related to water resource management.

Geothermal Engineer

Individuals who opt for a career as geothermal engineers are the professionals involved in the processing of geothermal energy. The responsibilities of geothermal engineers may vary depending on the workplace location. Those who work in fields design facilities to process and distribute geothermal energy. They oversee the functioning of machinery used in the field.

Geotechnical engineer

The role of geotechnical engineer starts with reviewing the projects needed to define the required material properties. The work responsibilities are followed by a site investigation of rock, soil, fault distribution and bedrock properties on and below an area of interest. The investigation is aimed to improve the ground engineering design and determine their engineering properties that include how they will interact with, on or in a proposed construction. 

The role of geotechnical engineer in mining includes designing and determining the type of foundations, earthworks, and or pavement subgrades required for the intended man-made structures to be made. Geotechnical engineering jobs are involved in earthen and concrete dam construction projects, working under a range of normal and extreme loading conditions. 

Budget Analyst

Budget analysis, in a nutshell, entails thoroughly analyzing the details of a financial budget. The budget analysis aims to better understand and manage revenue. Budget analysts assist in the achievement of financial targets, the preservation of profitability, and the pursuit of long-term growth for a business. Budget analysts generally have a bachelor's degree in accounting, finance, economics, or a closely related field. Knowledge of Financial Management is of prime importance in this career.

Operations Manager

Individuals in the operations manager jobs are responsible for ensuring the efficiency of each department to acquire its optimal goal. They plan the use of resources and distribution of materials. The operations manager's job description includes managing budgets, negotiating contracts, and performing administrative tasks.

Finance Executive

A career as a Finance Executive requires one to be responsible for monitoring an organisation's income, investments and expenses to create and evaluate financial reports. His or her role involves performing audits, invoices, and budget preparations. He or she manages accounting activities, bank reconciliations, and payable and receivable accounts.  

Investment Banker

An Investment Banking career involves the invention and generation of capital for other organizations, governments, and other entities. Individuals who opt for a career as Investment Bankers are the head of a team dedicated to raising capital by issuing bonds. Investment bankers are termed as the experts who have their fingers on the pulse of the current financial and investing climate. Students can pursue various Investment Banker courses, such as Banking and Insurance , and  Economics to opt for an Investment Banking career path.

Product Manager

A Product Manager is a professional responsible for product planning and marketing. He or she manages the product throughout the Product Life Cycle, gathering and prioritising the product. A product manager job description includes defining the product vision and working closely with team members of other departments to deliver winning products.  

Treasury analyst career path is often regarded as certified treasury specialist in some business situations, is a finance expert who specifically manages a company or organisation's long-term and short-term financial targets. Treasurer synonym could be a financial officer, which is one of the reputed positions in the corporate world. In a large company, the corporate treasury jobs hold power over the financial decision-making of the total investment and development strategy of the organisation.

Underwriter

An underwriter is a person who assesses and evaluates the risk of insurance in his or her field like mortgage, loan, health policy, investment, and so on and so forth. The underwriter career path does involve risks as analysing the risks means finding out if there is a way for the insurance underwriter jobs to recover the money from its clients. If the risk turns out to be too much for the company then in the future it is an underwriter who will be held accountable for it. Therefore, one must carry out his or her job with a lot of attention and diligence.

Welding Engineer

Welding Engineer Job Description: A Welding Engineer work involves managing welding projects and supervising welding teams. He or she is responsible for reviewing welding procedures, processes and documentation. A career as Welding Engineer involves conducting failure analyses and causes on welding issues. 

Transportation Planner

A career as Transportation Planner requires technical application of science and technology in engineering, particularly the concepts, equipment and technologies involved in the production of products and services. In fields like land use, infrastructure review, ecological standards and street design, he or she considers issues of health, environment and performance. A Transportation Planner assigns resources for implementing and designing programmes. He or she is responsible for assessing needs, preparing plans and forecasts and compliance with regulations.

Conservation Architect

A Conservation Architect is a professional responsible for conserving and restoring buildings or monuments having a historic value. He or she applies techniques to document and stabilise the object’s state without any further damage. A Conservation Architect restores the monuments and heritage buildings to bring them back to their original state.

Safety Manager

A Safety Manager is a professional responsible for employee’s safety at work. He or she plans, implements and oversees the company’s employee safety. A Safety Manager ensures compliance and adherence to Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) guidelines.

A Team Leader is a professional responsible for guiding, monitoring and leading the entire group. He or she is responsible for motivating team members by providing a pleasant work environment to them and inspiring positive communication. A Team Leader contributes to the achievement of the organisation’s goals. He or she improves the confidence, product knowledge and communication skills of the team members and empowers them.

Structural Engineer

A Structural Engineer designs buildings, bridges, and other related structures. He or she analyzes the structures and makes sure the structures are strong enough to be used by the people. A career as a Structural Engineer requires working in the construction process. It comes under the civil engineering discipline. A Structure Engineer creates structural models with the help of computer-aided design software. 

Individuals in the architecture career are the building designers who plan the whole construction keeping the safety and requirements of the people. Individuals in architect career in India provides professional services for new constructions, alterations, renovations and several other activities. Individuals in architectural careers in India visit site locations to visualize their projects and prepare scaled drawings to submit to a client or employer as a design. Individuals in architecture careers also estimate build costs, materials needed, and the projected time frame to complete a build.

Landscape Architect

Having a landscape architecture career, you are involved in site analysis, site inventory, land planning, planting design, grading, stormwater management, suitable design, and construction specification. Frederick Law Olmsted, the designer of Central Park in New York introduced the title “landscape architect”. The Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA) proclaims that "Landscape Architects research, plan, design and advise on the stewardship, conservation and sustainability of development of the environment and spaces, both within and beyond the built environment". Therefore, individuals who opt for a career as a landscape architect are those who are educated and experienced in landscape architecture. Students need to pursue various landscape architecture degrees, such as  M.Des , M.Plan to become landscape architects. If you have more questions regarding a career as a landscape architect or how to become a landscape architect then you can read the article to get your doubts cleared. 

Orthotist and Prosthetist

Orthotists and Prosthetists are professionals who provide aid to patients with disabilities. They fix them to artificial limbs (prosthetics) and help them to regain stability. There are times when people lose their limbs in an accident. In some other occasions, they are born without a limb or orthopaedic impairment. Orthotists and prosthetists play a crucial role in their lives with fixing them to assistive devices and provide mobility.

Veterinary Doctor

A veterinary doctor is a medical professional with a degree in veterinary science. The veterinary science qualification is the minimum requirement to become a veterinary doctor. There are numerous veterinary science courses offered by various institutes. He or she is employed at zoos to ensure they are provided with good health facilities and medical care to improve their life expectancy.

Pathologist

A career in pathology in India is filled with several responsibilities as it is a medical branch and affects human lives. The demand for pathologists has been increasing over the past few years as people are getting more aware of different diseases. Not only that, but an increase in population and lifestyle changes have also contributed to the increase in a pathologist’s demand. The pathology careers provide an extremely huge number of opportunities and if you want to be a part of the medical field you can consider being a pathologist. If you want to know more about a career in pathology in India then continue reading this article.

Speech Therapist

Gynaecologist.

Gynaecology can be defined as the study of the female body. The job outlook for gynaecology is excellent since there is evergreen demand for one because of their responsibility of dealing with not only women’s health but also fertility and pregnancy issues. Although most women prefer to have a women obstetrician gynaecologist as their doctor, men also explore a career as a gynaecologist and there are ample amounts of male doctors in the field who are gynaecologists and aid women during delivery and childbirth. 

An oncologist is a specialised doctor responsible for providing medical care to patients diagnosed with cancer. He or she uses several therapies to control the cancer and its effect on the human body such as chemotherapy, immunotherapy, radiation therapy and biopsy. An oncologist designs a treatment plan based on a pathology report after diagnosing the type of cancer and where it is spreading inside the body.

Audiologist

The audiologist career involves audiology professionals who are responsible to treat hearing loss and proactively preventing the relevant damage. Individuals who opt for a career as an audiologist use various testing strategies with the aim to determine if someone has a normal sensitivity to sounds or not. After the identification of hearing loss, a hearing doctor is required to determine which sections of the hearing are affected, to what extent they are affected, and where the wound causing the hearing loss is found. As soon as the hearing loss is identified, the patients are provided with recommendations for interventions and rehabilitation such as hearing aids, cochlear implants, and appropriate medical referrals. While audiology is a branch of science that studies and researches hearing, balance, and related disorders.

Healthcare Social Worker

Healthcare social workers help patients to access services and information about health-related issues. He or she assists people with everything from locating medical treatment to assisting with the cost of care to recover from an illness or injury. A career as Healthcare Social Worker requires working with groups of people, individuals, and families in various healthcare settings such as hospitals, mental health clinics, child welfare, schools, human service agencies, nursing homes, private practices, and other healthcare settings.  

For an individual who opts for a career as an actor, the primary responsibility is to completely speak to the character he or she is playing and to persuade the crowd that the character is genuine by connecting with them and bringing them into the story. This applies to significant roles and littler parts, as all roles join to make an effective creation. Here in this article, we will discuss how to become an actor in India, actor exams, actor salary in India, and actor jobs. 

Individuals who opt for a career as acrobats create and direct original routines for themselves, in addition to developing interpretations of existing routines. The work of circus acrobats can be seen in a variety of performance settings, including circus, reality shows, sports events like the Olympics, movies and commercials. Individuals who opt for a career as acrobats must be prepared to face rejections and intermittent periods of work. The creativity of acrobats may extend to other aspects of the performance. For example, acrobats in the circus may work with gym trainers, celebrities or collaborate with other professionals to enhance such performance elements as costume and or maybe at the teaching end of the career.

Video Game Designer

Career as a video game designer is filled with excitement as well as responsibilities. A video game designer is someone who is involved in the process of creating a game from day one. He or she is responsible for fulfilling duties like designing the character of the game, the several levels involved, plot, art and similar other elements. Individuals who opt for a career as a video game designer may also write the codes for the game using different programming languages.

Depending on the video game designer job description and experience they may also have to lead a team and do the early testing of the game in order to suggest changes and find loopholes.

Talent Agent

The career as a Talent Agent is filled with responsibilities. A Talent Agent is someone who is involved in the pre-production process of the film. It is a very busy job for a Talent Agent but as and when an individual gains experience and progresses in the career he or she can have people assisting him or her in work. Depending on one’s responsibilities, number of clients and experience he or she may also have to lead a team and work with juniors under him or her in a talent agency. In order to know more about the job of a talent agent continue reading the article.

If you want to know more about talent agent meaning, how to become a Talent Agent, or Talent Agent job description then continue reading this article.

Radio Jockey

Radio Jockey is an exciting, promising career and a great challenge for music lovers. If you are really interested in a career as radio jockey, then it is very important for an RJ to have an automatic, fun, and friendly personality. If you want to get a job done in this field, a strong command of the language and a good voice are always good things. Apart from this, in order to be a good radio jockey, you will also listen to good radio jockeys so that you can understand their style and later make your own by practicing.

A career as radio jockey has a lot to offer to deserving candidates. If you want to know more about a career as radio jockey, and how to become a radio jockey then continue reading the article.

An individual who is pursuing a career as a producer is responsible for managing the business aspects of production. They are involved in each aspect of production from its inception to deception. Famous movie producers review the script, recommend changes and visualise the story. 

They are responsible for overseeing the finance involved in the project and distributing the film for broadcasting on various platforms. A career as a producer is quite fulfilling as well as exhaustive in terms of playing different roles in order for a production to be successful. Famous movie producers are responsible for hiring creative and technical personnel on contract basis.

Fashion Blogger

Fashion bloggers use multiple social media platforms to recommend or share ideas related to fashion. A fashion blogger is a person who writes about fashion, publishes pictures of outfits, jewellery, accessories. Fashion blogger works as a model, journalist, and a stylist in the fashion industry. In current fashion times, these bloggers have crossed into becoming a star in fashion magazines, commercials, or campaigns. 

Photographer

Photography is considered both a science and an art, an artistic means of expression in which the camera replaces the pen. In a career as a photographer, an individual is hired to capture the moments of public and private events, such as press conferences or weddings, or may also work inside a studio, where people go to get their picture clicked. Photography is divided into many streams each generating numerous career opportunities in photography. With the boom in advertising, media, and the fashion industry, photography has emerged as a lucrative and thrilling career option for many Indian youths.

Copy Writer

In a career as a copywriter, one has to consult with the client and understand the brief well. A career as a copywriter has a lot to offer to deserving candidates. Several new mediums of advertising are opening therefore making it a lucrative career choice. Students can pursue various copywriter courses such as Journalism , Advertising , Marketing Management . Here, we have discussed how to become a freelance copywriter, copywriter career path, how to become a copywriter in India, and copywriting career outlook. 

Individuals in the editor career path is an unsung hero of the news industry who polishes the language of the news stories provided by stringers, reporters, copywriters and content writers and also news agencies. Individuals who opt for a career as an editor make it more persuasive, concise and clear for readers. In this article, we will discuss the details of the editor's career path such as how to become an editor in India, editor salary in India and editor skills and qualities.

Careers in journalism are filled with excitement as well as responsibilities. One cannot afford to miss out on the details. As it is the small details that provide insights into a story. Depending on those insights a journalist goes about writing a news article. A journalism career can be stressful at times but if you are someone who is passionate about it then it is the right choice for you. If you want to know more about the media field and journalist career then continue reading this article.

For publishing books, newspapers, magazines and digital material, editorial and commercial strategies are set by publishers. Individuals in publishing career paths make choices about the markets their businesses will reach and the type of content that their audience will be served. Individuals in book publisher careers collaborate with editorial staff, designers, authors, and freelance contributors who develop and manage the creation of content.

In a career as a vlogger, one generally works for himself or herself. However, once an individual has gained viewership there are several brands and companies that approach them for paid collaboration. It is one of those fields where an individual can earn well while following his or her passion. 

Ever since internet costs got reduced the viewership for these types of content has increased on a large scale. Therefore, a career as a vlogger has a lot to offer. If you want to know more about the Vlogger eligibility, roles and responsibilities then continue reading the article. 

Travel Journalist

The career of a travel journalist is full of passion, excitement and responsibility. Journalism as a career could be challenging at times, but if you're someone who has been genuinely enthusiastic about all this, then it is the best decision for you. Travel journalism jobs are all about insightful, artfully written, informative narratives designed to cover the travel industry. Travel Journalist is someone who explores, gathers and presents information as a news article.

Videographer

Careers in videography are art that can be defined as a creative and interpretive process that culminates in the authorship of an original work of art rather than a simple recording of a simple event. It would be wrong to portrait it as a subcategory of photography, rather photography is one of the crafts used in videographer jobs in addition to technical skills like organization, management, interpretation, and image-manipulation techniques. Students pursue Visual Media , Film, Television, Digital Video Production to opt for a videographer career path. The visual impacts of a film are driven by the creative decisions taken in videography jobs. Individuals who opt for a career as a videographer are involved in the entire lifecycle of a film and production. 

SEO Analyst

An SEO Analyst is a web professional who is proficient in the implementation of SEO strategies to target more keywords to improve the reach of the content on search engines. He or she provides support to acquire the goals and success of the client’s campaigns. 

Production Manager

Quality controller.

A quality controller plays a crucial role in an organisation. He or she is responsible for performing quality checks on manufactured products. He or she identifies the defects in a product and rejects the product. 

A quality controller records detailed information about products with defects and sends it to the supervisor or plant manager to take necessary actions to improve the production process.

Metrologist

You might be googling Metrologist meaning. Well, we have an easily understandable Metrologist definition for you. A metrologist is a professional who stays involved in measurement practices in varying industries including electrical and electronics. A Metrologist is responsible for developing processes and systems for measuring objects and repairing electrical instruments. He or she also involved in writing specifications of experimental electronic units. 

Production Worker

A production worker is a vital part of any manufacturing operation, as he or she plays a leading role in improving the efficiency of the production process. Career as a Production Worker  requires ensuring that the equipment and machinery used in the production of goods are designed to meet the needs of the customers.

Azure Administrator

An Azure Administrator is a professional responsible for implementing, monitoring, and maintaining Azure Solutions. He or she manages cloud infrastructure service instances and various cloud servers as well as sets up public and private cloud systems. 

AWS Solution Architect

An AWS Solution Architect is someone who specializes in developing and implementing cloud computing systems. He or she has a good understanding of the various aspects of cloud computing and can confidently deploy and manage their systems. He or she troubleshoots the issues and evaluates the risk from the third party. 

Computer Programmer

Careers in computer programming primarily refer to the systematic act of writing code and moreover include wider computer science areas. The word 'programmer' or 'coder' has entered into practice with the growing number of newly self-taught tech enthusiasts. Computer programming careers involve the use of designs created by software developers and engineers and transforming them into commands that can be implemented by computers. These commands result in regular usage of social media sites, word-processing applications and browsers.

ITSM Manager

Information security manager.

Individuals in the information security manager career path involves in overseeing and controlling all aspects of computer security. The IT security manager job description includes planning and carrying out security measures to protect the business data and information from corruption, theft, unauthorised access, and deliberate attack 

Big Data Analytics Engineer

Big Data Analytics Engineer Job Description: A Big Data Analytics Engineer is responsible for collecting data from various sources. He or she has to sort the organised and chaotic data to find out patterns. The role of Big Data Engineer involves converting messy information into useful data that is clean, accurate and actionable. 

Applications for Admissions are open.

NEET 2024 Most scoring concepts

NEET 2024 Most scoring concepts

Just Study 32% of the NEET syllabus and Score upto 100% marks

JEE Main high scoring chapters and topics

JEE Main high scoring chapters and topics

As per latest 2024 syllabus. Study 40% syllabus and score upto 100% marks in JEE

NEET previous year papers with solutions

NEET previous year papers with solutions

Solve NEET previous years question papers & check your preparedness

JEE Main Important Mathematics Formulas

JEE Main Important Mathematics Formulas

As per latest 2024 syllabus. Maths formulas, equations, & theorems of class 11 & 12th chapters

JEE Main Important Physics formulas

JEE Main Important Physics formulas

As per latest 2024 syllabus. Physics formulas, equations, & laws of class 11 & 12th chapters

JEE Main Important Chemistry formulas

JEE Main Important Chemistry formulas

As per latest 2024 syllabus. Chemistry formulas, equations, & laws of class 11 & 12th chapters

Everything about Education

Latest updates, Exclusive Content, Webinars and more.

Download Careers360 App's

Regular exam updates, QnA, Predictors, College Applications & E-books now on your Mobile

student

Cetifications

student

We Appeared in

Economic Times

We use cookies to enhance our website for you. Proceed if you agree to this policy or learn more about it.

  • Essay Database >
  • Essay Examples >
  • Essays Topics >
  • Essay on Population

Addressing Population Growth as World Population Crosses 8 Billion Essay Sample

Type of paper: Essay

Topic: Population , Growth , World , People , Population Growth , World Population , The World , Problems

Words: 1094

Published: 04/27/2023

ORDER PAPER LIKE THIS

The population of the world has been steadily increasing for millennia. Yet, the 19 th century saw exponential growth that led to the current global population of almost 8 billion people. Such a rapid and massive population boost prompts worries about its effects on the environment, the economy, and society. In this essay, we will discuss the difficulties brought on by the global population increase along with possible solutions.

When Will the World Population Reach 8 Billion?

It had taken all of human history until the end of the 18 th century for the world population to reach 1 billion people. Then, the growth rate has greatly accelerated. The second billion was achieved in only 130 years, the third billion in 30 years, and the fourth billion in 15 years. Then, the total world population grew by a billion every 12-13 years. When will the population reach 8 billion? Scientists predict that we will reach this mark by the end of 2021 at the soonest or the beginning of 2023 at the latest.

Nowadays, scientists observe the decline in the world population growth rate. They expect the round number of 10 billion people to be reached somewhere around 2060.

Still, as the number of people on Earth keeps increasing, resources and infrastructure get severely strained by this fast expansion, which also leads to climate change and environmental deterioration. Additionally, it results in social unrest, a rise in inequality, and worries about people’s health and well-being.

Issues Induced by the Growth of World Population 2022

There are several difficulties brought on by the 8 billion world population and its continuous growth.

Climate change and environmental degradation are two major problems caused by a rapidly increasing number of people on Earth. Population growth and respective boosts in food production and consumption are the major factors in the rise in greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation, and pollution, all of which have negative effects on the environment. The consequences of these elements include increased frequency and severity of extreme weather and rising sea levels.

The stress placed on the infrastructure and natural assets is one of the main problems. On the one hand, the need for food, water, energy, and shelter rises along with the population, placing a heavy burden on the planet’s resources. On the other hand, more people require additional infrastructure to accommodate the expanding population – e.g., roads, hospitals, schools, etc. In turn, this puts significant financial burdens on governments and other involved organizations.

Other significant issues brought on by population expansion include inequality and social conflicts. As the population grows, income and resources get concentrated in the hands of a small number of people, which increases inequality. Instability, conflict, and social strain can result from this. Some scientists even predict that in the future, the most fierce battles and wars will be for fresh water. Quick population expansion can also increase urban overpopulation, which exacerbates inequality and poverty.

Ways to Solve Problems Caused by World Population Growth

There are various potential solutions to these problems. Resource management and sustainable development are the two most apparent answers. This calls for radical waste and pollution reduction, as well as using resources in a way that protects them for future generations. Investment in renewable energy, carbon emission cutback, and encouraging sustainable agriculture might all be part of this strategy.

Family planning and education must also be addressed in the context of population growth. The number of unplanned pregnancies and births can be decreased by educating individuals about family planning methods and reproductive health. One might suggest that access to healthcare and education may also enhance the well-being of people and communities, resulting in explosive population growth. However, the demographical data from developed countries shows that the trend is actually the opposite. In economically prosperous states with wide access to healthcare, birth rates are significantly lower than respective indicators in second and third-world countries.

Other significant options to combat the consequences of population growth include technological innovation and efficiency enhancements. Technology advancements can ease the burden on natural resources by increasing effectiveness and minimizing waste. For instance, smart agricultural practices may assist in reducing water usage and increasing crop yields, while renewable energy technology can cut carbon emissions.

Finally, essential ways to battle the increase in the total population of the world include changes to legislation and administration. Governments and other involved organizations may put in place policies and initiatives that support family planning and reproductive health, as well as sustainable development.

There are several obstacles that must be cleared to put the above-described solutions into action. To effectively handle population growth and related issues, cooperation between governments, international organizations, and individuals is required – and crucial for success. Case studies of successful solutions can serve as models to follow for others.

Collective and Individual Action Is Crucial to Address Future and Current World Population Growth Issues

There are going to be over 8 billion people on the planet very soon and 10 billion people by the end of the 2050s. Despite gradually slowing down, population growth poses serious problems for the environment, the economy, and society. Sustainable development, family planning and education, technology innovation, and changes in policy and governance are all necessary to address these issues.

Although putting these solutions into action will need a lot of work and cooperation, it is crucial for the survival of the world and mankind. Despite the complexity and interrelations of the problems brought on by the increasing population, there are several viable solutions to effectively combat its consequences. It is impossible to stress how crucial it is to address population growth since it has a profound impact on how well-off people, communities, and the world as a whole are. The thing is, no one can credibly tell what is the world population that our planet can sustain.

To address population increase and related issues, it is critical for both individuals and organizations to understand their respective roles. This might entail adopting a sustainable lifestyle, supporting measures for sustainable development, speaking out in favor of legislative reforms, or assisting groups that strive to achieve these objectives. It is up to us to take action to solve the problems brought on by a growing global population if we are to ensure the future of mankind and the Earth.

double-banner

Cite this page

Share with friends using:

Removal Request

Removal Request

Finished papers: 1302

This paper is created by writer with

If you want your paper to be:

Well-researched, fact-checked, and accurate

Original, fresh, based on current data

Eloquently written and immaculately formatted

275 words = 1 page double-spaced

submit your paper

Get your papers done by pros!

Other Pages

Psychiatrist reports, plantation reports, magazine reports, rebellion reports, tooth reports, immunology research proposals, strategic management and business policy course work, example of implementation plan for amr corp research paper, example of research paper on differences in gun control in the us compared to other countries, free term paper on greek debt crisis and its impact, the case of the new apple inc research paper sample, corticosteroids for exacerbations of asthma and copd research paper example, the big sleep movie review examples, good example of research paper on programming fundamentals, nature and purpose of the business essay sample, research paper on history of military communication, good physical ability tests essay example, isotope research papers examples, good example of competitors of ikea company in mexico essay, good essay on the sky burial xinran xue, free use of social media marketing in fundraising by global environmental ngos in russia thesis example, working with and leading people course work examples, aging essay examples, free essay about creative techniques, measuring magnetic field report examples, example of too much technology is available to teenagers essay, inevitability of cold war essay, free financial innovation past and present essay sample, good on the road by jack kerouac literature review example, good example of how the diverse cultures contributed to the louisiana we know today research paper, broome essays, windmill essays, bacharach essays, career choice essays, legalization of marijuana essays, my goals essays, whitmans essays, ethics and values essays, the new deal essays, diversity in the workplace essays, werner essays.

Password recovery email has been sent to [email protected]

Use your new password to log in

You are not register!

By clicking Register, you agree to our Terms of Service and that you have read our Privacy Policy .

Now you can download documents directly to your device!

Check your email! An email with your password has already been sent to you! Now you can download documents directly to your device.

or Use the QR code to Save this Paper to Your Phone

The sample is NOT original!

Short on a deadline?

Don't waste time. Get help with 11% off using code - GETWOWED

No, thanks! I'm fine with missing my deadline

Global Population Issues and Population in the UAE Essay

The current world population is over 6 billion, half of the population lives in poverty. The global population trends have been increasing drastically and it is estimated that in fifty years time the world population will be about between 9 billion. The rapid global population increase has put humanity and the world at peril.

Overpopulation will lead to a number of problems in the world. To begin with, the environment will face the problem of air and water pollution. Habitats will be destroyed to create room for human habitation thus less cropland.

Due to dropping water table, levels and rising temperatures there will be a shortage of food. Water scarcity will be a major challenge because of the uneven distribution of safe drinking water. People with no access to clean water will die of water borne diseases. The natural resources will face exhaustion due to the great pressure of the population.

People will have to shift to cities and urban. The rapid urbanization will put a strain on governments’ ability to provide basic services such as sewerage, water, electricity and infrastructure. It is projected that more than half of the world’s total population will be living in urban areas. The scarcity of resources may lead to conflict as people complete for the available ones.

For instance, China the most populous nation in the world will increase in population despite its one child policy. This will lead to enormous demand for resources. The country will face a problem of feeding its population due to reduced food production because of reduced water levels and the rising temperatures due to global warming.

It will be forced to depend on other countries for its food supply especially on the United States which is a world major grain producer accounting for more than half of the world’s total grain production (Brown 1).

Modern medicine, declined mortality rates, improved sanitation are forces responsible for the world’s population explosion. The world’s population is growing the fastest in the developing world. The population is expected to hit 9 billion “nearly all of this growth will take place in developing countries” (“Population Growth” 1). The developing world has a high population due to high fertility levels.

In this part of the world, many females in the reproductive age are potential mothers. For instance in Africa where fertility rates are high the average number of children per woman is five. In addition, the mortality rates have gone down in the developing world.

With reduced deaths, many children survive and grow into adulthood due to improved sanitation and availability of medication. On the contrary, Population growth is declining in the developed world. These countries have gone through the four stages of demographic transitions and the fertility rate is low thus the declining population.

The implications for countries with declining and aging population are shortage of labor due to lack of energetic young men and women in the labor sector. For example, Japan is estimated to have 40 per cent of its population above 65 years by 2050. The shortage of labor leads to low taxes collection. This influences the economic development of the countries as they spend more money on payout the retirees (Bremner et al 4).

Consequently, the governments of these countries will be forced to take measures to drive the fertility rates up to cover up the deficit in population. In other instance, they might have to increase immigration although many people do not favor this solution. The countries are not headed for extinction per se because there is hope for rebound in fertility rates.

Moreover, the immigrants to the developed countries have high fertility rates for example the Hispanic community in the United States and immigrants in the United Kingdom. However, the demographics of such countries are likely to change with the immigrants surpassing the natives in terms of population size.

Fertility rates are lower in developed countries because there is a less young generation in the childbearing age and the opposite is true in developing nations. Furthermore, due to delayed marriages and high cost of living that forces couples to have fewer children and penetration of reproductive health education unlike in the developing countries (“Population Growth” 1).

The population in the US is growing at about 1% per year. The population is heading in the aging direction in about 50 years time because the big number of baby boomers will have aged and the countries that contribute to immigrants such as Mexico will have a higher aging population than the US hence less immigrants for the US and consequently a rapid aging population (Brown 1).

The planet cannot sustain that a 10 billion population due the strain on natural resources. Policies have to be put in place to improve the situation otherwise the population will slow down due to diseases caused by lack of safe drinking water and hunger from shortage of food.

Potential solutions to the problem of overpopulation include. Educate people about family planning methods so that they can have fewer numbers of children. The education must include religious leaders because in some religions such as Islam and catholic women give birth to high number of children. For example, the teachings of catholic are against use of contraceptives expect the natural or rhythm method.

Economic development can be a solution to the problem of rapid population growth because it will deter people from having many children due to the high cost of living as it has happened in Thailand and Mexico.

Finally, failure to reverse population growth rates will create a major problem for humanity simply because the natural resources available will not be able to sustain the explosive population many will face starvation with reduced food production due to global warming. Conflicts are more likely to arise to from the young nations as more developed nations such as Japan become less economically stable with their aging population.

United Arab Emirates

The UAE has a population problem because its population is male dominated. Thus, results into an imbalance between males and females. The fertility rate in this region has been lowered by the society’s acceptance and use of family planning methods and services.

The governments in the region have embraced policies to drive down the high fertility rate. The conservative culture and religion is opening up and more girls are going to school and taking up careers thus a delay in marriage.

Women are making gains in their rights albeit slowly hence the women are becoming empowered. On the other hand, many labor immigrants come to the UAE and this will raise the population in the region as many immigrants come to seek employment in the region that has a high economy and can afford to employ them. However, it is important to note that most of the immigrants are male hence contributes to the sex imbalance in UAE.

Works Cited

Bremner, Jason et al. “World Population Highlights.” Population Bulletin 63 (2008): 1-11.

Brown, Lester. Interview by NOVA. “Voices of concern “. pbs.org. 2004. Web.

Population growth over human history. globalchange.umich.edu. Web.

  • Chicago (A-D)
  • Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2018, May 16). Global Population Issues and Population in the UAE. https://ivypanda.com/essays/global-population-issues-and-population-in-our-country/

"Global Population Issues and Population in the UAE." IvyPanda , 16 May 2018, ivypanda.com/essays/global-population-issues-and-population-in-our-country/.

IvyPanda . (2018) 'Global Population Issues and Population in the UAE'. 16 May.

IvyPanda . 2018. "Global Population Issues and Population in the UAE." May 16, 2018. https://ivypanda.com/essays/global-population-issues-and-population-in-our-country/.

1. IvyPanda . "Global Population Issues and Population in the UAE." May 16, 2018. https://ivypanda.com/essays/global-population-issues-and-population-in-our-country/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Global Population Issues and Population in the UAE." May 16, 2018. https://ivypanda.com/essays/global-population-issues-and-population-in-our-country/.

  • Family Behaviors, Inequality, and Outside Childbearing Marriage
  • Predictors of Teen Childbearing
  • Aromatherapy Massage to Comfort Childbearing Mothers
  • A Critique of the Study: Childbearing
  • The Realization of the UAE Energy Plan 2050
  • Sustainable Design in 2050 in the United States
  • Energy Sector in 2050: Potential Scenario
  • Discovering Live on Other Planets Before 2050
  • Great Powers in 2050
  • Problems Facing Human Beings In 2050
  • Z-score as a Number of Standard Deviations From the Mean
  • The Evolution of Electricity
  • Anthropological Comparison between the Chinese and Hindu Society
  • Investigation of One of the States of the United States. -Iowa
  • Heredity and Natural Selection
  • Share full article

Advertisement

Supported by

Guest Essay

Why Is Everything Suddenly Taylor Swift’s Fault?

global population essay

By Jennifer Weiner

Ms. Weiner is a novelist. Her most recent book is “The Breakaway.”

Ask the people in your life to name a woman who’s got it good, with wealth and beauty and talent and true love, and I’d bet at least a few of them would name Taylor Swift.

Ms. Swift, the 34-year-old pop icon, who made history last Sunday as the only musician to win four best-album Grammy Awards, checks many of the important boxes. She is white and thin and blond in a world that continues to privilege whiteness and thinness and blondness. She’s a billionaire with an enviable real estate portfolio, a loyal coterie of girlfriends and, for the past five months or so, a handsome, cheerfully goofy N.F.L. player boyfriend who seems smitten with her. On Sunday, she may take a break from her worldwide Eras tour and fly in from Japan to watch him play in the Super Bowl. Hashtag blessed, right?

But if you spend 10 minutes on X or Threads, or eavesdropping on N.F.L. message boards or watching TikToks, you will notice that factions that do not agree about anything share an absolute certainty that Taylor Swift is trouble. She’s doing too much, except when she’s not doing enough, and she’s always doing it wrong.

I’m not the first to observe that a pretty blonde dating a handsome football player should, at least for white people of a certain age, evoke all the simpler bygone vibes (Friday-night lights, milkshakes with two straws, letterman jackets) that conservatives could want. Except — oops! — the pretty blonde endorses Democrats. And Travis Kelce, the football hero, appears in commercials for vaccines (bad) and Bud Light ( somehow worse ).

And why does she hog the spotlight at his games? She’s Yoko Ono-ing him and jinxing his team, the Kansas City Chiefs, except when she misses a game — and is still, somehow, jinxing the team, which made it to the Super Bowl anyway, proof right there, somehow, of a vast left-wing conspiracy.

Of course, anyone subjected to that much distilled man-cave fury should be beloved by the opposing team, the folks with dye in their hair and pronouns in their online biographies, right?

Think again.

Environmentally minded critics have called Ms. Swift a climate criminal for frequently flying on a private jet. In 2022, she topped a list of “celebrity emitters” that blamed her jet for pumping 8,293.54 metric tons of CO₂ s into the atmosphere. (A spokeswoman told The Washington Post that those figures were misleading, since Ms. Swift regularly lent the plane to others.) They got even angrier when her representatives sent a cease-and-desist letter to a Florida college student who tracked and publicized that data.

If the jet is a problem, the money that pays for it is an even bigger one. Summarizing a whole lot of online chatter, an article in the Australian outlet SBS asks, who is making Ms. Swift’s merchandise? “Are they working reasonable hours and paid appropriately? Did she really need to release that much merchandise? Are her tickets being sold to fans at a reasonable price?”

Ms. Swift gave the staff of her Eras tour $100,000 bonuses , for a reported tota l of more than $55 million, and she quietly made large donations to food pantries in the cities the tour passed through. But to these critics, an ethical billionaire is a contradiction in terms, and Ms. Swift’s at fault for trying to reach the top of oppressive power structures when she could be trying to dismantle them instead.

Of course, race is also part of the debate. Some people are angered by Ms. Swift’s failure to condemn her recent ex Matty Healy, the lead singer of the British band the 1975, who was filmed onstage giving what appeared to be a Nazi salute. During interviews, he lobbed vile insults at the rapper Ice Spice and talked about watching pornography that degraded Black women.

“Whether she’s dating Healy or this is all an elaborate PR scheme,” Kelly Pau wrote in Salon , “Swift has proven herself to be another white woman who claims to be an ally, claims Black Lives Matter and calls herself a feminist — but only as long as it serves her.” Others point out that Mr. Kelce’s previous girlfriend is Black and that in some quarters, his relationship with Ms. Swift is being celebrated as a kind of glorious return to sanity.

As Brittany Packnett Cunningham has noted, some people seem to regard Ms. Swift as a “symbol of pure whiteness.” Writing on Threads, the MSNBC analyst said, “in their ‘replacement fears,’ defending her is defending whiteness itself.”

But wait, there’s more. Some fans are disappointed that Ms. Swift attended a Brooklyn stop on the comedian Ramy Youssef’s More Feelings tour, an event that raised money for Gazan relief efforts. “She owes Israelis and Jewish Americans an apology,” said the talk-show host Megyn Kelly. Meanwhile, fans using the hashtag #SwiftiesforPalestine have asked Ms. Swift to call for an immediate cease-fire, cut ties with Israeli companies and to publicly support Palestinians.

Fans with disabilities have complained that Ms. Swift’s accessible-ticket sales were a mess — and that her concerts didn’t offer enough A.D.A.-compliant seats.

Even Ms. Swift’s affection for cats has come under fire. In particular, critics say, her affection for her two Scottish Fold cats increased the breed’s popularity, causing unscrupulous opportunists to over-breed them, which resulted in unfortunate genetic mutations.

A racist ex! A pollutant-spewing private jet! White feminism! The sins of capitalism! Mutant cats! All her fault!

It’s a tale as old as time: how it’s impossible for any woman — whether superstar or mere mortal — to get it right. It’s a “Barbie” monologue (Taylor’s version):

You have to have money, but you can’t ask for money because that’s crass. You have to be a boss, but you can’t be too powerful. You have to be a career woman but not ambitious.

You have to answer for men’s bad behavior, which is insane, but if you point that out, you’re accused of complaining.

But always stand out and always be grateful. But never forget that the system is rigged. You have to never get old, never be rude, never show off, never be selfish, never fall down, never fail, never show fear, never get out of line. It’s too hard! And it turns out in fact that not only are you doing everything wrong, but also everything is your fault.

Despite winning pretty much everything, it seems, Taylor Swift can’t win.

But in that sea of TikToks and X posts, open letters and petitions and demands, there’s something heartening happening, too.

When I was a teenager, I’m not sure it would have occurred to me to think about how whiteness might have been at work on the pop charts or demand that Debbie Gibson seize the means of production. It’s encouraging to see Ms. Swift’s young fans talking about race and power and privilege and gender.

And it’s hard to imagine that those critics wouldn’t also think about their own lives, their own feminism and carbon footprint, the stands they take, the pets they choose. In demanding Taylor Swift do better — even when there’s no consensus about what “better” looks like — a whole lot of Swifties may end up doing better themselves.

Jennifer Weiner is a novelist. Her most recent book is “The Breakaway.”

Source photograph by Caroline Brehman/EPA, via Shutterstock

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

Follow the New York Times Opinion section on Facebook , Instagram , TikTok , X and Threads .

How bad is Pakistan's debt crisis and can the IMF save it?

People cover themselves to stay warm during heavy fog, early in the morning at the fruit wholesale market on the outskirts of Peshawarr

WHO COULD THE IMF NEGOTIATE WITH?

Reuters Graphics

HOW BAD IS THE ECONOMIC SITUATION?

Reuters Graphics

HOW MUCH DEBT IS THERE?

Reuters Graphics

HOW IS IT AFFECTING THE POPULATION?

Reporting by Marc Jones in LONDON and Ariba Shahid in KARACHI; editing by Philippa Fletcher

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. , opens new tab

A Comac C919 flies past during an aerial flying display ahead of the Singapore Airshow at Changi Exhibition Centre in Singapore

Spanish voters go to polls in close-run Galicia election

Voters went to the polls in Spain's northwest region of Galicia on Sunday in a close-run race where polls have suggested the opposition conservative People's Party (PP) could lose an absolute majority that it has held for 15 years.

A trader looks on near electronic boards showing stock market data at Bahrain Bourse in Manama

IMAGES

  1. ⇉Population Growth around the world Essay Example

    global population essay

  2. Population Essay

    global population essay

  3. Free “Global Population” Essay Paper

    global population essay

  4. Over Population.

    global population essay

  5. Population Geo Essay Critique

    global population essay

  6. World population essay « Are you looking for real-estate for sale in Japan?

    global population essay

VIDEO

  1. Why The Global Population Is Collapsing #history

  2. Population essay in english

  3. कहां तक बढ़ेगी दुनिया की आबादी, जानिए [Demographic change: What will the future bring?]

  4. Population & environment

  5. Over Population : நுகர்வு கலாச்சாரத்தால் ஏற்படும் சிக்கல்கள்..!

  6. GLOBAL DEMOGRAPHY IN GLOBALIZATION (Contemporary world)

COMMENTS

  1. Population Growth

    Population growth is one of the most important topics we cover at Our World in Data. For most of human history, the global population was a tiny fraction of what it is today. Over the last few centuries, the human population has gone through an extraordinary change. In 1800, there were one billion people. Today there are more than 8 billion of us.

  2. Major Trends in Population Growth Around the World

    The world's population continues to grow, reaching 7.8 billion by mid-2020, rising from 7 billion in 2010, 6 billion in 1998, and 5 billion in 1986. The average annual growth rate was around 1.1% in 2015-2020, which steadily decreased after it peaked at 2.3% in the late 1960s.

  3. Essay on World Population: Top 10 Essays

    Essay # 2.Distribution of World's Population: In terms of continents and countries the world's popu­lation is very ill-balanced. More than half of the world's people live in Asia (excluding the U.S.S.R.) which accounts for only one-fifth of the world's land area, while North, Central and South America together, occupying more than a quarter of the land surface, have only one-seventh ...

  4. Population growth

    Population growth is the increase in the number of humans on Earth. For most of human history our population size was relatively stable. But with innovation and industrialization, energy, food, water, and medical care became more available and reliable. Consequently, global human population rapidly increased, and continues to do so, with dramatic impacts on global climate and ecosystems.

  5. Long Slide Looms for World Population, With Sweeping Ramifications

    The global population saw its greatest increase in known history, from 1.6 billion in 1900 to 6 billion in 2000, as life spans lengthened and infant mortality declined. In some countries ...

  6. Population Growth Essay for Students in English

    Essay on Population Growth. One of the major problems the world is facing is the problem of the exponential growth of the population. This problem is the greatest one. Most countries in the world are showing a steep rise in population figures. The world's resources are limited and so they cannot support a population beyond a certain limit.

  7. World Population Problems

    To appreciate the pace of population growth we should recall that world population doubled in about 1,700 years from the time of Christ until the middle of the 17th century; it doubled again in about 200 years, doubled again in less than 100, and, if the current rate of population increase were to remain constant, would double every 35 years ...

  8. The world population explosion: causes, backgrounds and projections for

    In his famous "Essay on the Principle of Population" (first edition in 1789), Malthus argues justly that in time the growth of the population will inevitably slow down, either by an increase of the death rate or by a decrease of the birth rate. ... A world population that needed some millennia before reaching the number of 1 billion people ...

  9. Population

    population, in human biology, the whole number of inhabitants occupying an area (such as a country or the world) and continually being modified by increases (births and immigrations) and losses ( deaths and emigrations). As with any biological population, the size of a human population is limited by the supply of food, the effect of diseases ...

  10. World Population Growth: A Once and Future Global Concern

    The challenge posed by global population growth has been clear to most scientists since at least the 1950s. In the 1970s, it became conventional wisdom that "the population explosion" constituted a threat to humanity and to sound social, economic and ecological development. ... An Essay on the Principle of Population as It Affects the ...

  11. Global Population Growth and Decline

    Published Nov. 9, 2023 Updated Nov. 16, 2023. Economists and demographers who study population size project that the world's population will reach a peak of about 10 billion people around 2085 ...

  12. Global Population Trends

    The United Nations experts are in consent that the global population may reach its peak of 8 billion, and beyond 2040, it may begin to decline. Contrariwise, population growth expectation will be from the less developed nations. Additionally, the average life expectancy in the industrialized regions is higher than that in less developed regions.

  13. Global Population Aging: Facts, Challenges, Solutions & Perspectives

    The first section of this essay provides a statistical overview of global population aging and its contributing factors. The second section outlines some of the major challenges associated with widespread population aging. ... Finally, the third section of the essay describes various responses to these challenges, both current and prospective ...

  14. World Population Essay Examples and Topics at Eduzaurus

    In 2019, There are 76 billion people around the world and increased by 1% compared with last year, according to the world better. The population has increased sharply which is a global problem with living, economic and environmental issues. Especially, Vietnam is the 15th country…

  15. Essay on World Population Day for Students and Children

    The World Population Day is marked on July 11 and it is an annual event. The main purpose of marking such a day is to bring awareness about the rising global population and the issues and problems that arise with such overpopulation. The event was first suggested by Dr. Zacharia in his capacity as a demographer at the World Bank.

  16. World Population Essay

    World Population Essay According to the Population Division of the United Nations, world population reached 6,500 million in 2005 and will continue growing by more than 76 million per year, United Nations estimates indicate that by 2050 there will be between 7,700 million and 10,600 million, being the most likely projection of 9,100 million ...

  17. Essay on Population

    100 Words Essay On Population. Population refers to the total number of people living in a specific area or country. The global population has been increasing rapidly in recent decades and is projected to reach around 9 billion by 2050. The population growth rate varies by country and region, with some areas experiencing higher rates of growth ...

  18. Essay on Population for Students and Children

    500+ Words Essay on Population. Population refers to the total number of beings living in a particular area. Population helps us get an estimate of the number of beings and how to act accordingly. For instance, if we know the particular population of a city, we can estimate the number of resources it needs.

  19. 360 Population Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

    Population Growth and the Distribution of Human Populations to Effects on the Environment. Again, distribution of food among the world's population is dependent on a population's food demand, economic status and available food production resources. The Negative Effects of the Rapid Increase in Human Population in the World.

  20. Population can't be ignored—it has to be part of the policy solution to

    The most recent United Nations projections point to a global population of 9.7 billion by 2050 and 10.4 billion by 2100. There are 8 billion of us now. Another 2 billion will bring already ...

  21. Population Essay for Students in English

    Population is a very interesting topic to learn. There is no denying the fact that the population of any country is a very strong indicator of how exactly the country will function in the future and what its capabilities are as a nation. Leaders of the world pay a lot of attention to their country's population for the same reason.

  22. World Population Day Essay

    100 Words Essay On World Population Day. On July 11, the world observes World Population Day. This year's theme is "Investing in Youth." World Population Day is intended to increase awareness and educate people about global population issues. It is important to remember that population growth is not just a problem for developing countries.

  23. Free Essay on World Population Example

    The population of the world has been steadily increasing for millennia. Yet, the 19 th century saw exponential growth that led to the current global population of almost 8 billion people. Such a rapid and massive population boost prompts worries about its effects on the environment, the economy, and society. In this essay, we will discuss the ...

  24. Global Population Issues and Population in the UAE Essay

    The implications for countries with declining and aging population are shortage of labor due to lack of energetic young men and women in the labor sector. For example, Japan is estimated to have 40 per cent of its population above 65 years by 2050. The shortage of labor leads to low taxes collection.

  25. Opinion

    Guest Essay. Why Is Everything Suddenly Taylor Swift's Fault? Feb. 10, 2024. ... She is white and thin and blond in a world that continues to privilege whiteness and thinness and blondness. She ...

  26. How bad is Pakistan's debt crisis and can the IMF save it?

    People cover themselves to stay warm during heavy fog, early in the morning at the fruit wholesale market on the outskirts of Peshawar, Pakistan January 9, 2024.