I’m Gwen Outen with the VOA Special English Development Report.
A United Nations report says the number of people in the world isexpected to reach six thousand five hundred million this July. Bythe middle of the century, the population could reach more than ninethousand million. That would be an increase of forty percent.
These numbers are fresh estimates for a report on worldpopulation change from nineteen fifty to two thousand fifty. HaniaZlotnik is director of the U.N. Population Division. She says theworld has added nearly five hundred million people in the last sixyears.
But, in her words, “the good news is that new estimates show thatit will take a little longer” to add the next five hundred million.Mizz Zlotnik says this will probably happen by two thousandthirteen.
The U.N. report says most population growth by two thousand fiftywill take place in less developed countries. Their population isexpected to increase from five thousand million today to almosteight thousand million. The population of more developed nations isexpected to stay about the same, at just over one thousand million.
The report says nine countries will be responsible for about halfthe world population increase by twenty fifty. These includeBangladesh, China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia andIndia. The others are Nigeria, Pakistan, Uganda and the UnitedStates.
Twelve countries are expected to have populations at least threetimes the size now. These include Afghanistan, Burkina Faso,Burundi, Chad, Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and EastTimor. The others are Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger andUganda.
The report says birth rates remain low in forty-four developedcountries.
Today, worldwide, there is an average of two-point-six childrenper woman. This number is expected to fall to just over two childrenper woman in two thousand fifty. But U.N. population experts notethat they cannot be sure which way birth rates will go in thefuture.
The U.N. report also notes that AIDS has increased death ratesand slowed population growth in sixty countries. The area mostaffected by the disease is Southern Africa.
There, how long people live has fallen from an average ofsixty-two years in nineteen ninety-five to forty-eight now.Researchers believe life expectancy will fall to forty-three yearsby two thousand fifteen, then begin a slow recovery.
This VOA Special English Development Report was written by NancySteinbach. I’m Gwen Outen.