8 Billion & Falling

India, soon to be the world’s most populous country, has a narrow window to encash its demographic dividend.

A child born yesterday would have been the world’s eight billionth inhabitant. The world’s population has more than doubled over the last six decades, a phase when curbing population expansion was a priority in most developing countries. The scale of the global population should not obscure the fact that we are in the midst of an unprecedented demographic downturn. A collapse in fertility rates and the consequent “population greying” will be the dominant demographic trend this century. Within this overarching trend, regional patterns will vary sharply.