Latest Articles

Click Here to See All Articles

Featured Advisory Board Member

Vijai P. Singh is a member of our advisory board.  He is Professor at the Department of Sociology, The Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, and he holds several affiliations: University Center for International Studies, Asian Studies Center, European Studies Center and University Center for Social and Urban Research. In addition to Social Stratification and Mobility, his research interests include the study of Sociology of Science.  He is engaged in a comparative study of the processes of production of scientific knowledge in the U.S. and Western Europe, including the roles of relevant political, economic, and social institutions. In addition, Prof. Singh is collaborating with academics in India on three different research and publication projects that deal with sustainable development, poverty, and economic policies at federal and local levels.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Featured Author

Konstantinos N. Zafeiris is an associate professor of Demography in the Department of History and Ethnology, Democritus University of Thrace, Greece. He received his doctorate in demography after studying the demographic and biological profile of isolated populations. His research focuses on mortality, health, population modelling, fertility, and palaeodemography.  He has also studied the demographic and genealogical structure of isolated populations in Greece from the point of view of anthropological demography.

Recent article in Population Review: How to Study Life Expectancy at Birth (e0) Differences between The Two Genders: A Methodological Proposition

 

Newsworthy

India now most populous country in the world

United Nations –

24 April 2023 – China will soon cede its long-held status as the world’s most populous country. By the end of this month, India’s population is expected to reach 1,425,775,850 people, matching and then surpassing the population of mainland China. This forecast is based on the latest United Nations estimates and projections of the global population.

China’s population reached its peak size of 1.426 billion in 2022 and has started to fall. Projections indicate that the size of the Chinese population could drop below 1 billion before the end of the century. By contrast, India’s population is expected to continue growing for several decades.

Fertility is a key driver of population trends

In 1971, China and India had nearly identical levels of total fertility, with just under six births per woman over a lifetime. Fertility in China fell sharply to fewer than three births per woman by the end of the 1970s. For India, it took three and a half decades to experience the same fertility reduction that occurred in China over a seven-year period during the 1970s.

In 2022, China had one of the world’s lowest fertility rates (1.2 births per woman). India’s current fertility rate (2.0 births per woman) is just below the “replacement” threshold of 2.1, the level required for population stabilization in the long run in the absence of migration.

During the second half of the 20th century, both countries made concerted efforts to curb rapid population growth through policies that targeted fertility levels. These policies, together with investments in human capital and gender equality, contributed to China’s plummeting fertility rate in the 1970s and to the more gradual declines that followed in the 1980s and 1990s.

India also enacted policies to discourage the formation of large families and to slow population growth, including through its national family welfare programme beginning in the 1950s. India’s lower human capital investment and slower economic growth during the 1970s and 1980s contributed to a more gradual fertility decline than in China.

United Nations –

24 April 2023 – China will soon cede its long-held status as the world’s most populous country. By the end of this month, India’s population is expected to reach 1,425,775,850 people, matching and then surpassing the population of mainland China. This forecast is based on the latest United Nations estimates and projections of the global population.

China’s population reached its peak size of 1.426 billion in 2022 and has started to fall. Projections indicate that the size of the Chinese population could drop below 1 billion before the end of the century. By contrast, India’s population is expected to continue growing for several decades.

Fertility is a key driver of population trends

In 1971, China and India had nearly identical levels of total fertility, with just under six births per woman over a lifetime. Fertility in China fell sharply to fewer than three births per woman by the end of the 1970s. For India, it took three and a half decades to experience the same fertility reduction that occurred in China over a seven-year period during the 1970s.

In 2022, China had one of the world’s lowest fertility rates (1.2 births per woman). India’s current fertility rate (2.0 births per woman) is just below the “replacement” threshold of 2.1, the level required for population stabilization in the long run in the absence of migration.

During the second half of the 20th century, both countries made concerted efforts to curb rapid population growth through policies that targeted fertility levels. These policies, together with investments in human capital and gender equality, contributed to China’s plummeting fertility rate in the 1970s and to the more gradual declines that followed in the 1980s and 1990s.

India also enacted policies to discourage the formation of large families and to slow population growth, including through its national family welfare programme beginning in the 1950s. India’s lower human capital investment and slower economic growth during the 1970s and 1980s contributed to a more gradual fertility decline than in China.

PRB Releases 2022 World Population Data Sheet, Providing Comprehensive Look at COVID-19 Pandemic's Demographic Impacts in More Than 200 Countries

Pandemic impact

Photo by Isaac Quesada on Unsplash

PBS, by Liselle Yorke –

WASHINGTON, September 12, 2022—The COVID-19 pandemic caused nearly 15 million excess deaths in 2020 and 2021, accounting for 12% of all deaths globally and contributing to declines in life expectancy in some countries, including the United States.

 

Those are among the findings in PRB’s newly released 2022 World Population Data Sheet, providing a global picture of the pandemic’s impacts on mortality and fertility patterns.

 

Published annually since 1962, PRB’s World Population Data Sheet is a leading resource for policymakers, educators, and researchers seeking reliable demographic data. The 60th edition charts indicators for more than 200 countries and territories.

 

“Two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, we are finally getting a clearer and more nuanced picture of its impact across countries and communities,” PRB President and CEO Jeffrey Jordan said. “We hope the data and evidence in the 2022 World Population Data Sheet can provide greater insights for decisionmakers.”

 

Other key findings in the 2022 Data Sheet include:

 

♦ Between January 2020 and December 2021, the pandemic contributed to 12% of total deaths globally, directly or indirectly. Central America was hardest hit, with more than 25% of deaths associated with the pandemic.

 

♦  Around 7.46 million excess deaths occurred on average in both 2020 and 2021, leading to nearly 15 million excess deaths over the two-year period. Excess deaths measure the difference between the number of actual deaths and the number of deaths that would have been expected had the pandemic not occurred.

 

♦  Between 2019 and 2021, life expectancy in the United States declined from 78 years to 76 years—reversing 30 years of gains. Global life expectancy at birth is 75 years for women and 70 years for men.

 

♦  The global population rose slightly to just under 8 billion people. India is projected to have the greatest absolute increase in population size of any country between 2022 and 2050, rising by more than 253 million to 1.67 billion.

 

♦  The pandemic’s impact on fertility rates was less significant than expected and largely temporary. High-income countries such as Italy, Germany and the United States experienced small declines in births in 2020, rebounding in 2021. Low- and middle-income countries saw little to no fertility impacts.

 

♦  The global total fertility rate (TFR)—lifetime number of births per woman—is 2.3, still above the replacement-level TFR of approximately 2.1 births per woman.

 

“As more data and analysis become available, we are seeing how different populations were impacted unequally by the pandemic,” said Toshiko Kaneda, PRB’s Technical Director, Demographic Research. “Understanding how the pandemic’s impacts varied across groups is critical to prepare for future pandemics and crises.”

Click here to download a free copy of PRB’s 2022 World Population Data Sheet.

World Population Reaches the 8 Billion Milestone

 

Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@kevinjyoung?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Kevin Young</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/wallpapers/travel/city?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a>

Photo by Kevin Young on Unsplash

CNN, by Tara Subramaniam– Tue November 15, 2022

The world’s population will reach 8 billion people on Tuesday, representing a “milestone in human development” before birth rates start to slow, according to a projection from the United Nations.

In a statement, the UN said the figure meant 1 billion people had been added to the global population in just 12 years.

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

Middle-income countries, mostly in Asia, accounted for most of the growth over the past decade, gaining some 700 million people since 2011. India added about 180 million people, and is set to surpass China as the world’s most populous nation next year.

But even while the global population reaches new highs, demographers note the growth rate has fallen steadily to less than 1% per year. This should keep the world from reaching 9 billion people until 2037. The UN projects the global population will peak at around 10.4 billion people in the 2080s and remain at that level until 2100.

Most of the 2.4 billion people to be added before the global population peaks will be born in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the UN, marking a shift away from China and India.

Environmental impact

Reaching an 8 billion global population “is an occasion to celebrate diversity and advancements while considering humanity’s shared responsibility for the planet,” UN Secretary General António Guterres said in the UN statement.

Having more people on Earth puts more pressure on nature, as people compete with wildlife for water, food and space. Meanwhile, rapid population growth combined with climate change is also likely to cause mass migration and conflict in coming decades, experts say.

And whether it’s food or water, batteries or gasoline, there will be less to go around as the global population grows. But how much they consume is equally important, suggesting policymakers can make a big difference by mandating a shift in consumption patterns.

Carbon emissions of the richest 1%, or about 63 million people, were more than double the emissions of the poorest half of humanity between 1990 and 2015, according to a 2020 analysis by the Stockholm Environment Institute and non-profit Oxfam International.

Resource pressure will be especially daunting in African nations, where populations are expected to boom, experts say. These are also among the countries most vulnerable to climate impacts, and most in need of climate finance.

2022 Sociological Demography Press. All Rights Reserved. | Sitemap | PMS