Six billion and counting: global population trends at the turn of the century

The 1998 United Nations population projections for the world show that we may be set to add nearly five billion extra people by 2050, but growth rates have fallen. This is largely because of dramatic falls in fertility, particularly in Asia. The projections are, however, very sensitive to small changes in fertility. Almost all of the projected growth will take place in the less developed countries and, as fertility falls, it is inevitable that the average age of the world’s population will rise. Following article appears on p. 18 Copyright. Monash University and the author/s