Nigeria is projected to become the world’s third most populous country by the year 2050, according to a report published by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
In the report titled ‘World Population Prospects: The 2017 Revision’, the world population is set to hit 8.6 billion by 2030, 9.8 billion in 2050 and 11.2 billion in 2100 a steep increase in the current number that stands at nearly 7.6 billion.
The U.N. agency forecasts that from now through 2050, half the world’s population growth will be concentrated in just nine countries — India, Nigeria, Congo, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Tanzania, United States, Uganda and Indonesia. Those nations are listed in the order of their “expected contribution to total growth,” the report said.
Nigeria, currently the world’s seventh largest country, has the fastest growing population of the 10 most populous countries worldwide, and the report projects it will surpass the U.S. shortly before mid-century.
According to the report, Africa – which has the youngest age distribution of any region – is projected to experience a rapid ageing of its population.
Although the African population will remain relatively young for several more decades, the percentage of its population aged 60 or over is expected to rise from five per cent in 2017 to around nine per cent in 2050, and then to nearly 20 per cent by the end of the century.
In addition, the birth rates in African countries are likely to “at least double” by 2050, according to the report.
