, Columnist
Global Population Could Peak Sooner Than We Think
The UN may be underestimating the pace of decline in African fertility rates.
Fertility rates in countries such as Kenya are falling at a similar pace to elsewhere in the world.
Photographer: YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP/Getty Images
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Since the days of Thomas Malthus, we’ve worried that overpopulation is about to overwhelm our planet.
Those fears haven’t gone away. A further two billion people will be added to the current world population of 7.7 billion by 2050, the United Nations Population Division said in a report this week. Numbers will still be rising as the total approaches 11 billion people in 2100, according to the UN’s central forecast.