The United Nations has announced that the world’s population is projected to reach 8 billion on November 15.
The information is in a statement released Monday in New York by the UN to mark the 2022 World Population Day (WPD).
The UN projects that India will surpass China in 2023 to become the world’s most populous country.
With an estimated 216 million people, Nigeria is the sixth-largest country in the world after China, India, the United States, Indonesia, and Pakistan.
The United Nations project that the country’s population will reach about 401 million by the end of the year 2050 when it could be the third-largest country in the world.
The major contributors to Nigeria’s population growth are early marriages and the high birth rate of 37 births per 1,000 people.
These contribute to Nigeria’s young people where the median age is 18.1 (2019 data).
In contrast, the global media age is 30, and the global average birth rate is 18.5 births per 1,000 people (2022).
A growing number of countries face population aging, while others like Nigeria have youthful and growing populations.
The UN states that “understanding these shifts is critical to harnessing opportunities and mitigating potential downsides.”
The theme for the 2022 WPD is “A World of 8 Billion: Towards a Resilient Future for All –Harnessing Opportunities and Ensuring Rights and Choices for All.”