World Population Prospects 2019: Highlights – World

What is World Population Prospects 2019?

People, and therefore people, are at the center of sustainable development. Each of the four major global demographic "trends" – population growth, aging of the population, migration, and urbanization – has important implications for economic and social development and the sustainability of the environment. Accurate and timely population estimates and projections enable governments to anticipate future demographic trends and incorporate this information into development policies and planning.

The 2019 revision of the World Population Prospects is the twenty-sixth edition of the United Nations population estimates and projections. It presents population estimates from 1950 to the present for 235 countries or areas, supported by analyzes of historical demographic trends. This last assessment takes into account the results of 1,690 national population censuses conducted between 1950 and 2018, as well as information from civil registration systems and 2,700 representative sample surveys at national level. national. The 2019 revision also presents population projections up to 2100 that reflect a range of plausible outcomes at the global, regional and national levels.

Population estimates and projections presented in World Population Prospects describe two of the four broad demographic trends (population growth and aging), as well as key trends in human fertility, mortality, and net international migration that are integral sustainable development. Together, these data are an essential part of the database for tracking global progress towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

World Population Prospects 2019:

• Confirms that the world's population continues to grow, even at a slower pace;

• Draws attention to the challenges facing some countries and regions related to rapid population growth caused by high fertility;

• Finds that the size of the population is decreasing in some countries due to low fertility or persistent emigration;

• Stresses the opportunities available to countries in which a recent decline in fertility creates demographic conditions conducive to accelerated economic growth;

• Stresses the unprecedented aging of the world's population;

• Confirms the current increase in global longevity and the reduction of the gap between rich and poor countries, while highlighting the significant disparities in survival that persist between countries and regions;

• Describes how international migration has become a determinant of population growth and change in some parts of the world.