The world's least-developed regions will double in population between now and 2050, from 828 million to 1.66 billion, predicts the non-profit Population Reference Bureau, based in Washington DC, in data published last week. These 49 countries, 33 of which are in Africa, have the lowest incomes, highest economic vulnerability and poorest human-development indicators according to United Nations definitions.
The bureau's projections show that, over the same time period, the population of the world's more developed countries will creep up 7%, from 1.23 billion to 1.32 billion — fuelled mainly by immigration from less-developed regions. In the United States, however, more than half of the expected growth will be due to births there; it has one of the highest fertility rates in the developed world.
Worldwide, the population could hit 9.4 billion in 2050, up from 6.8 billion today and topping 7 billion in the latter half of 2011. By 2050, India will overtake China as the world's most populous country.
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World population will grow fastest in poorest areas. Nature 460, 943 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/460943b
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/460943b
