The world population will grow by one-third, to 9.7 billion people, by mid-century, the United Nations estimates. And with the population surging in poor countries, it will be harder to assure enough food for everyone. Most of the growth in population will be in Africa or in countries that already have large populations – a list that includes the United States. According to the UN, the United States will rank seventh in the world for size of growth during the next 35 years with a population of nearly 390 million in 2050, compared to 322 million now.
Africa is expected to account for more than half of the global population growth from 2015-50. The population of 28 countries is projected to double at minimum, and would quintuple in 10 of them.
“The concentration of population growth in the poorest countries presents its own set of challenges, making it more difficult to eradicate poverty and inequality, to combat hunger and malnutrition, and to expand educational enrollment and health systems, all of which are crucial to the success of the new sustainable development agenda,” said John Wilmoth, director of the the UN’s Population Division.
India is estimated to displace China as the world’s most populous country in about seven years. At the moment, China has 1.38 billion people and India has 1.31 billion, and together they account for 38 percent of the global population of 7.3 billion. With an estimated 399 million people in 2050, Nigeria would replace the United States as the third-largest country in the world.