According to a UN report made public on Tuesday, the world population is expected to reach 7 billion people by 31 October, and at the end of the century, the planet will have more than 10 billion people.
The report also predicted that world population will be a higher number at the half of the century than it was forecast two years ago, reaching 9.31 billion instead of 9.15 billion, the previous prediction. UN has also found out that there were fewer deaths and more births than anticipated. Five children are born and two people die every second.
The October date when the world population will reach 7 billion was calculated on the basis of current trends.
The report, entitled “Global Perspectives on Population in 2010”, predicts that 2100 is the year when, for the first time, the number of 10.1 billion people on the planet will be reached.
Gerhard Heilig, a UN official, said that China’s population, currently around 1.34 billion, will drop below one billion by 2100. Russia’s population will decrease numerically from 143 million – the current number, to 126 million by 2050 and to 111 million by 2100, he added.
At this time, more than four billion people, meaning over 60% of the world population, live in Asia. China and India together host 40% of the inhabitants of the earth. The top of the most populated continents continues with Africa, Europe, North America and South America. Australia has just 1% of the world population.