In this context, the organization again called for a right to sexual self-determination for all women worldwide. “Societies thrive when people have opportunities, when they are healthy, educated and able to exercise their rights,”
According to the UNFPA, the eight billion mark was already exceeded in November. However, two-thirds of all people live in areas with low fertility rates (less than 2.1 children per woman), according to the report. The organization emphasized that demographic development must often serve as a simplified conclusion to explain the multiple crises of today. It is therefore wrong to blame population growth and fertility for the climate crisis. “Out of eight billion people, about 5.5 billion do not earn enough money to make a significant contribution to carbon emissions, because in order to produce emissions, a person must be able to consume. Only ten percent of the world‘s population is responsible for half of all greenhouse gas emissions,” this is the tenor of the UNFPA.
The number of governments enacting measures to increase, decrease or maintain the number of births is increasing. “It has long been known that the political instrumentalization of fertility and women’s bodies is very often ineffective,” it said. Instead, political measures must be adopted that ensure equality for all genders. “It has been proven that gender equality in the world of work increases a country’s productivity and income levels. The education of women and access to self-determined family planning yield enormous dividends in the form of economic growth,”
At a press conference in Vienna, Willibald Zenk, Head of Sexual and Reproductive Health at UNFPA, pleaded for strengthening the rights of individuals, especially women: “If the rights, dignity and equality of all people are really respected and protected, then open a future with enormous possibilities.” SPÖ spokeswoman for global development, Petra Bayr, blew the same horn. “Compulsion or pressure on individuals to have more or fewer children can never be a solution.” All women have the right to free decisions, added Eva-Maria Holzleitner (also SPÖ). Eva Ernst-Dziedzic from the Greens made a similar statement at the media event: a policy away from patriarchal ideology towards sex education in schools, access to contraception independent of the purse and nationwide access to abortion is needed.
UNFPA calls for universal access to sexual education for people in all parts of the world, especially for women and girls, a right to contraceptives, fertility treatment and abortion, including appropriate advice, and implementation of the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Against the background of the current report, the organization referred to data from 68 countries on women’s sexual self-determination. According to this, 24 percent of women and girls in partnerships decide whether they want to have sex. Eleven percent of women in partnerships are also not allowed to make decisions about the use of contraceptives. It is estimated that 257 million women worldwide have an unmet need for reliable contraception.
Half the growth in just eight countries
According to the UNFPA, half of the projected growth in world population will occur in just eight countries by 2050. These are the Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and the United Republic of Tanzania. “The ranking of the most populous countries in the world will change drastically as a result,” said a paper from the fund. Europe is also the only region in the world that expects a population decline between 2022 and 2050.
India will soon overtake China as the most populous country in the world. According to estimates by the UN population fund, almost three million more people will live in India than in China by the middle of the year, according to the world population report. According to this, India will then have 1.4286 billion inhabitants and China 1.4257 billion. The total world population then amounts to 8.045 billion people.
The UN said it was not possible to determine the exact date when India would overtake China given the available data. This was also emphasized by the founding director of the renowned Wittgenstein Center for Demography and Global Human Capital in Vienna, Wolfgang Lutz, to the APA. In fact, it can be assumed that the change may have taken place at some point in the past two years. According to the demographer, the birth rate in China has recently fallen faster and lower than the UN had assumed in its calculations.
In India, for example, the most recent census was in 2011. A new count was supposed to follow in 2021, but it was postponed. Population growth in both countries has recently decreased. China’s population shrank last year for the first time in six decades. India’s population is likely to continue to grow for the time being.
