World Population Day is on July 11.The number of people living in Nigeria is projected to nearly double in the next 27 years, according to new figures. The rise is different from what will happen in a rising number of countries, where the number of people will go down.
Happy Day of the World’s People!
The yearly United Nations designation is a chance to recognise “the dreams of all 8 billion of us on our planet,” as UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in a blog post on Tuesday. It’s also a chance to take stock of how quickly the world around us is changing.
In the past year, the world’s population went over 8 billion for the first time, and India passed China as the most popular country. But even as the world’s population grows, one of the most talked-about topics is the “Great People Shortage,” as Insider writers have called it. Projections show that China, Japan, Germany, and even the US could have fewer people by the year 2100. This could lead to some major economic problems.
Other parts of the world, on the other hand, are likely to see their populations grow over the next few decades. This is in contrast to the countries that may have to deal with an ageing and shrinking population. Nigeria may be the most important of these countries that are growing quickly.
Nigeria had less than 80 million people in 1982, and it wasn’t even one of the 10 most popular countries in the world. Since then, Nigeria’s population has almost tripled to 225 million, making it the sixth largest country in the world. And no one thinks that will stop.
Nigeria’s population is expected to reach 377 million by 2050, which is almost double what it is now. This is based on the most recent estimates from the UN. In the process, it will pass Pakistan and Indonesia to become tied with the US for third place in the world in terms of population. That’s a lot for a country that is only a little bit bigger than Texas.
The growth of Africa as a whole can be seen in Nigeria’s amazing growth. Five of the eight countries where half of the world’s population growth is expected to happen in the next 27 years, according to UN figures, are in Africa. In an interview with Africa News, Tighisti Amare, the Deputy Director of the Africa Programme at Chatham House in London, said that Africa is the fastest-growing and youngest region, with 70% of the people under 30.
Amare said, “Of course, better public health and more access to it explain some of the rise in population.” “This has caused the death rate of children to go down. And that’s good news all by itself. The other good news is that most African countries don’t have a lot of older people who depend on taxes and benefits, which can also be hard on the economy. This is because most African countries have young populations.
She also said that because Nigeria has such a young population, it is producing more workers in the tech industry. This makes it more likely that answers to problems that affect Africa, like climate change, will be made in Africa.
Even though there are a lot of good things, there are also a lot of problems that come with a population that is growing so quickly. Michael Herrmann, an economic advisor with the United Nations Population Fund, told Africa News that it can be hard to care for, teach, and find jobs for a population that is growing so quickly if there isn’t enough planning.
“They have decided to meet the needs of the people in terms of education, health care, housing, food, water, energy, and security,” Hermann said. “They want to make sure that everyone has a job, and a larger population can make this harder to do. It makes it harder to reach these goals and make social growth, and it could also put more pressure on the earth.
No matter how Nigeria and other fast-growing African countries handle their rapid growth, World Population Day gives us a chance to think about the big changes in the human population that will change the world in the coming decades.
