As of November 15, 2022, the Earth reached the population milestone of 8 billion people, making it a crucial time to examine the current population trends and its effects on the future. The 8 billion people of the world are spread out across different countries, with China and India having the highest population of 1.426 billion and 1.417 billion respectively.
The population growth rate is at 0.83% per year. However, not every country is growing at the same rate; some countries are actually losing population. In addition, global life expectancy has grown from 29 years to 73 years since 1800. This has resulted in a decrease in the fertility rate, as people are living longer. There is a strong correlation between a country’s overall health, life expectancy and fertility rate; healthy countries tend to have lower fertility rates.
The effect of a growing population on businesses includes slowed GDP growth and potential labor shortages as the population ages. There will also be increasing demands on the industries that cater to the elderly, such as assisted living facilities, pharmaceuticals, and hospitals. Countries within Africa are predicted to increase their share of the global GDP as their population grows and increasingly dominates the labor force.
