Introduction
The UN estimated that the seven billionth person was born in October 2011 (UN Population Division 2011). The life that this person may lead could be very different, depending on where they were born.
- They may have been born into a world facing global population growth, and yet a world in which some countries have unprecedented population ageing and face imminent decline.
- They may have a life expectancy of 80 years. Or they may have a life expectancy of 45 years.
- They may be born into a country where less than 1% of the population are HIV+, or a country where over 20% of the population are.
- They may end up as one of the billion people who are chronically hungry, or one of the one billion people who are overweight.
- If the seven billionth person is female, her and her peers may have, on average, 1.3 children each or 6 depending on where they live. If she was born into an ageing country then there may be debate over how to encourage women like her to increase their fertility; if she was born in one of the rapidly growing countries, then the debate will surround how to provide acceptable means for women to reduce their fertility, should they want to.
The major demographic issues facing the world today include population growth and decline, population ageing and its consequences, massive global inequalities in mortality and HIV prevalence, low fertility as well as food shortages and a growing obesity epidemic. Demography supplies us with the tools to understand, to plan, and to address these problems on a global scale. On a local scale, an understanding of demographic trends allows the effective planning of facilities for schooling, healthcare, and infrastructure for current and future generations.
This session will look at what demography is, and then give an overview of trends and issues in world population.