State of the World Population 2019

tate of the World Population 2019, the flagship report of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), has been released.

India- specific findings:

1. India accounts for over one-sixth of the world’s population in 2019 (1.37 billion out of 7.71 billion).
2. It has grown at a rate (1.2% per year between 2010 and 2019) that is just over the world growth rate (1.2%).
3. India’s life expectancy at birth is lower than the world’s (69 years to 72).
4. It scores higher than the global average in terms of access to healthcare during childbirth, and also has a much lower adolescent birth rate.
5. India’s maternal mortality ratio in 2015 was 174 deaths per lakh live births (down from 448 in 1994) while the global MMR in 2015 was 216.
6. India’s fertility rate in 2019 is 2.3 births per woman, compared to 2.5 worldwide.

Top five most populous countries will look like the following in 2027:

1. India – 1.5 billion.
2. China – 1.1 billion.
3. Nigeria – 733 million.
4. United States – 434 million.
5. Pakistan – 403 million.

Challenges ahead:

1. Early marriage continues to present a major cultural obstacle to female empowerment and better reproductive rights.
2. The absence of reproductive and sexual rights has a major and negative repercussions on women’s education, income and safety, leaving them “unable to shape their own futures”.
3. About 35 million women, girls and young people will need life-saving sexual and reproductive health services this year, as well as services to address gender-based violence, in humanitarian settings.
4. Overall population of the world is ageing, with the age group ‘65 and above’ growing at a fast rate. By 2050, one in six people will belong to this group, instead of one in 11 in 2019.