India will surpass China as the most populous country on earth in 2023, UN report says
The world’s population is expected to reach eight billion on November 15, the UN has predicted in a report that warns that India will surpass China as the most populous country on earth in 2023.
That overall population milestone “is a reminder of our shared responsibility to care for our planet and a moment to reflect on where we still fall short of our commitments to one another,” Secretary General Antonio Guterres said.
The report highlighted that in an ideal world, 8 billion people mean 8 billion opportunities for healthier societies empowered by rights and choices but progress is not universal and the same challenges raised 11 years ago remain or have worsened: Climate change, violence, and discrimination.
- World’s population is projected to reach 8 billion on 15 November 2022.
- Latest UN projections suggest that the global population could grow to around 8.5 billion in 2030, 9.7 billion in 2050 and 10.4 billion in 2100.
- Globally, life expectancy reached 72.8 years in 2019, an increase of almost 9 years since 1990.
- In 2022, the two most populous regions were both in Asia: Eastern and South-Eastern Asia.
- China and India, with more than 1.4 billion each, accounted for most of the population in these two regions. India is projected to surpass China as the world’s most populous country during 2023.
- More than half of the projected increase in global population up to 2050 will be concentrated in just eight countries: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and the United Republic of Tanzania.