1. India is expected to overtake China as the world’s most populous country in 2023, according to data from the United Nations (UN). China began 2023 as the world’s most populous country, with around 1.4 billion people.
2. But the UN says that India should become the world’s largest country in the middle of April, when its population will be 1.43 billion. The world’s population reached 8 billion in November 2022, but it’s not growing as quickly as it was.
(1)What are your thoughts on India becoming the most populous country in 2023?
(2)How has your country’s population changed over the past few decades?
3. China is one of many countries with a decreasing population. Birthrates are low, and this could mean a population decrease of 48 million by 2050. India’s birth rate is much lower than it was, but it’s not as low as China’s. Improving health care also means people there are living longer.
4. Of course, it’s difficult to know the exact numbers of people in each country, but these are the best guesses based on UN data. The UN says the global population will not reach 9 billion until 2037, and a lot of the world’s growth up to 2050 will take place in eight countries.
(1)Is the population of your cities growing? How is this affecting the countryside?
(2)What would happen in the world if there was a population explosion?
5. More than half of the expected population increase will be concentrated in Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and Tanzania. But in many parts of the world, including a number of countries in Europe, populations are decreasing.
6. In Bulgaria, Croatia, Japan, Serbia and Ukraine, for example, populations are expected to decrease by over 15% by 2050. But as people live longer, it’s not only decreasing populations that countries are worried about — it’s the increasing number of older people who need to be looked after.
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