For the first time world population reaches 8 billion

The world population has finally breached the 8 billion mark as the United nations had earlier projected. The population breached the mark around 1.30 pm (IST).

The projection was revealed at UN World Population Prospects 2022 by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs released on World Population Day on July 11 this year but is gaining traction now as the projected deadline is just days away.

This unprecedented growth is due to the gradual increase in human lifespan owing to public health, nutrition, personal hygiene and medicine improvements. It is also the result of high and persistent levels of fertility in some countries.

The earlier report had also mentioned that India, by 2023, will replace China as the world's most populous nation in 2023. It projected increase in population up to 2050 will be concentrated in just eight countries: Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and Tanzania.

In 1974, the world had 4 billion people. The United Nations estimates the global population will have doubled to 8 billion by mid-November 2022, a period of just 48 years.

While it took the global population 12 years to grow from 7 to 8 billion, it will take approximately 15 years—until 2037— for it to reach 9 billion, a sign that the overall growth rate of the global population is slowing.

This is the United Nations' population growth projection until 2050: