It took hundreds of thousands of years for the world population to reach 1 billion. However, in the following years, it has increased sevenfold in about 200 years. The world population, which reached 7 billion in 2011, has reached almost 7.9 billion in 2021. In this case, the population is expected to reach about 8.5 billion in 2030, 9.7 billion in 2050, and 10.9 billion in 2100. This dramatic growth is primarily due to the increasing number of people surviving to reproductive age, accompanied by significant changes in fertility rates, increasing urbanization, and accelerating migration.
There have been significant changes in fertility rates and life expectancy recently. While each woman had an average of 4.5 children in the early 1970s, by 2015, total world fertility had fallen below 2.5 children per woman. However, the average global life expectancy has increased from 64.6 years in the early 1990s to 72.6 years in 2019. In addition, the world is experiencing high levels of urbanization and rapid migration. In 2007, for the first time, the number of people living in urban areas exceeded that of rural areas, and it is estimated that approximately 66 percent of the world’s population will live in cities by 2050. If these trends continue, there will inevitably be far-reaching negative impacts for future generations.
Factors such as falling welfare levels, decreasing employment rates and social security, increasing poverty and inequality in income distribution, and lack of access to health, education, housing, water, food, and energy can be listed as the social dimensions of these impacts. At the same time, environmental damage, depletion of natural resources, and the destruction of cultural and natural assets are also among the adverse effects of population growth. The resources in the world are scarce, and more people than we can feed on the planet we live on will harm our planet. Excessive population growth increases the pressure on natural resources and also increases injustice and inequality among people.
Correct population projections and important strategies must be developed to reduce the effects of population growth in order to address individuals’ needs more sustainably.
World Population Day is celebrated every July 11th. It aims to increase people’s awareness of various population issues, such as the importance of family planning, gender equality, poverty, maternal health, and human rights. The Executive Council of the United Nations Development Program organized the event in 1989. It was inspired by the interest in Five Billion Day on July 11, 1987, when the world population reached approximately five billion.
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