The century ahead

The century ahead
On population ageing
(Chris Wilson)
The twentieth century was, above all else, a century of population growth; the twenty-½rst century will be a century of aging. Between 1900 and 2000 the world’s population quadrupled, from around 1.5 billion to over 6 billion.
Most of this increase occurred after World War II. At present, it seems unlikely that the population will grow by more than about a further 50 percent.
The most plausible forecasts see a population numbering between 9 and 10 billion by about 2050, with stability or decline in total population thereafter.