Growing or shrinking? Latest trends about World’s Population | World Population Prospects 2024 

Press Briefing by Mr. Navid Hanif, Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), along with Mr. John Wilmoth, Director, Population Division, UN DESA and Ms. Clare Menozzi, Senior Population Affairs Officer, Population Division, UN DESA. They brief journalists on the World Population Prospects 2024: Summary of Results.
The global population reached nearly 8.2 billion by mid-2024 and is expected to grow by another two billion over the next 60 years, peaking at around 10.3 billion in the mid-2080s.
It will then fall to around 10.2 billion, which is 700 million lower than expected a decade ago. That’s just one of the key findings revealed in Thursday’s World Population Prospects 2024 report published by the UN Thursday.
However, changes in global population are uneven and the demographic landscape is evolving, with rapid population growth in some places and rapid ageing in others, making reliable population data “more important than ever”, said the UN sexual and reproductive health agency (UNFPA), heralding the report which is published to coincide with World Population Day.
The report “must be used to reach and respond to the needs of those who have been left behind,” the agency added.
‘Everyone counts’
Marking the international day, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said it was key to accurately count everyone “because everyone counts.”
“Our rich human tapestry is only as strong as its weakest thread. When data and other systems work for those on the margins, they work for everyone. This is how we accelerate progress for all.”
To study this population data more closely, the 28th edition of World Population Prospects (WPP) published by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) since 1951, provides the latest demographic data for 237 countries from 1950 to 2024 and projections up to the year 2100.
The WPP is crucial to monitor the Sustainable Development Goals, with about a quarter of the indicators relying on its data.
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