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State of World Population 2011 People and Possibilities in a World of 7 Billion

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Seven Opportunities for a World of 7 Billion state of world population 2011 state of world population 2011 1 Reducing poverty and inequality can slow population growth. Unleashing the power of women and girls can accelerate progress 2 on all fronts. Energetic and open to new technologies, young people can transform 3 global politics and culture. Ensuring that every child is wanted and every childbirth safe can 4 lead to smaller and stronger families. Each of us depends on a healthy planet, so we must all help protect 5 the environment. and People possibilities in a world of 7 billion Promoting the health and productivity of the world’s older people 6 can mitigate the challenges faced by ageing societies. The next 2 billion people will live in cities, so we must 7 plan for them now. United Nations Population Fund 605 Third Avenue New York, NY 10158 USA Tel. +1-212 297-5000 www.unfpa.org ©UNFPA 2011 People and USD $24.00 ISBN 978-0-89714-990-7 sales no. E.11.III.H.1 E/11,000/2011 possibilities in a world of 7 billion www.7billionactions.org Printed on recycled paper. The State of World Population 2011 This report was produced by the Information and External Barcelona, Saturnin Epie, Ann Erb-Leoncavallo, Antti Kaartinen, Relations Division of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Bettina Maas, Purnima Mane, Niyi Ojuolape, Elena Pirondini, Fund. Sherin Saadallah and Mari Simonen of UNFPA’s Office of the Executive Director. Editorial team Other colleagues in UNFPA’s Technical Division and Programme Division—too numerous to fully list here—also provided Lead reporter: Barbara Crossette insightful comments on drafts, ensured accuracy of data and Additional reporting and writing: Richard Kollodge lent focus on direction to the issues covered in the report. UNFPA Advisory Board: Rune Froseth, Werner Haug, Aminata Toure, Sylvia Wong The Population Division of the United Nations Department of Editor: Richard Kollodge Economic and Social Affairs, the source of most of the data in Editorial associate: Robert Puchalik the report, guided the analysis and presentation of population Editorial and administrative associate: Mirey Chaljub projections. Without their support, this report would not have Distribution manager: Jayesh Gulrajani been possible. UNESCO’s Institute for Statistics, UNICEF, the World Health Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the World Bank and the Acknowledgements UNFPA/NIDI Resource Flows Project and the Statistics Division The editorial team is grateful to the report’s Advisory Board for of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social guiding the conceptualization and development of the report Affairs also provided critical data. Edilberto Loiaza of UNFPA’s and for providing invaluable feedback on drafts. Population and Development Branch guided the selection and presentation of indicators. Heads or acting chiefs of seven UNFPA field offices (and their staff) set up interviews, arranged logistics and helped Thanks to generous financial support from UNFPA’s Technical identify story ideas and guided the reporting in each location: Division, this report features all original photography of the Bernard Coquelin (China), Ziad Rifai (Egypt), Benoit Kalasa people and places mentioned in the narrative. (Ethiopia), Marc Derveeuw (India), Diego Palacios (Mexico), Patricia Guzmán (Mozambique), Agathe Lawson (Nigeria), Original photography in each location by Guo Tieliu (China); and François Farah and Tatjana Sikoska (the former Yugoslav Matthew Cassel (Egypt); Antonio Fiorente (Ethiopia); Sami Republic of Macedonia). UNFPA’s regional directors provided Sallinen (Finland); Sanjit Das and Atul Loke (India); Ricardo valuable support to the development of the report: Hafedh Ramirez Arriola (Mexico); Pedro Sa Da Bandeira (Mozambique); Chekir (Arab States), Thea Fierens (Eastern Europe and Akintunde Akinleye (Nigeria); and Antonin Kratochvil (the Central Asia), Nobuko Horibe (Asia and the Pacific), Bunmi former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia). Makinwa (Africa) and Marcela Suazo (Latin America and the Caribbean). Hilkka Vuorenmaa, senior advocacy officer The editorial team also wishes to thank the individuals who told of Väestöliitto, the Family Federation of Finland, laid the their stories for this report. groundwork for reporting in that country. Cover photo: Invaluable guidance was also provided by Safiye Çagˇar, Director Geography class, Eduardo Mondlane University, of the Information and External Relations Division; Neil Ford, Maputo, Mozambique Chief of the Media and Communications Branch; and Delia ©UNFPA/Pedro Sá da Bandeira UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, is an international development agency that promotes the right of every woman, man and child to enjoy a life of health and equal opportunity. UNFPA supports countries in using population data for policies and programmes to reduce poverty and to ensure that every pregnancy is wanted, every birth is safe, every young person is free of HIV, and every girl and woman is treated with dignity and respect. UNFPA—because everyone counts. state of world population 2011 People and possibilities in a world of 7 billion Foreword page ii A closer look at Decision to move: the power 1 our world of 7 billion page 1 5 and impact of migration page 65 Youth: a new global power Planning ahead 2 reshaping the world page 9 6 for the growth of cities page 77 Security, economic strength Sharing and sustaining Earth’s resources 3 and independence in old age page 29 7 page 93 What influences The way ahead: finishing the Cairo agenda 4 fertility? page 43 8 page 101 Indicators page 110 Selected sources page 124 ©UNFPA Antonio Fiorente Foreword Seven billion people will inhabit the earth on 31 October. During my lifetime, I have seen world population nearly triple. And 13 years from now, I will see another billion added to our numbers. In my grandchildren’s lifetimes, there could be as many as 10 billion people in our world. How did we become so many? How large a communities to make the most of our world number can our Earth sustain? of 7 billion. These are important questions, but per- Some of the trends are remarkable: Today, haps not the right ones for our times. When there are 893 million people over the age of we look only at the big number, we risk being 60 worldwide. By the middle of this century overwhelmed and losing sight of new opportu- that number will rise to 2.4 billion. About one nities to make life better for everyone in in two people lives in a city, and in only about the future. 35 years, two out of three will. People under So instead of asking questions like, “Are the age of 25 already make up 43 per cent of we too many?” we should instead be asking, the world’s population, reaching as much as “What can I do to make our world better?” 60 per cent in some countries. or, “What can we do to transform our grow- This report provides a snapshot of how ing cities into forces for sustainability?” We China, Egypt, Ethiopia, Finland, India, should also ask ourselves what each of us Mexico, Mozambique, Nigeria, and the former can do to empower the elderly so they can Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia are facing play a more active role in their communities. diverse demographic challenges, ranging from What can we do to unleash the creativity and ageing populations to high fertility rates, and potential of the largest youth cohort human- from urbanization to the emergence of new ity has ever seen? And what can we do to generations of young people. Some of these remove barriers to equality between women countries are coping with high fertility rates and men so that everyone has the full power and others are facing rates so low that govern- to make their own decisions and realize their ments are already looking for ways to increase full potential? population size. Some countries with labour The State of World Population 2011 shortages are looking to migrants to fill jobs, looks at the trends—the dynamics—that are while others are relying on the remittances sent defining our world of 7 billion and shows back home by citizens working overseas to buoy what people in vastly different countries their economies. And while some countries are and circumstances are doing in their own attracting more people to emerging mega-cities ii FOREWORD t UNFPA Executive Director Babatunde Osotimehin. ©Brad Hamilton where jobs are plentiful and the cost of living is Our record population size can be viewed high, others are seeing waves of migration from in many ways as a success for humanity: city centres to peri-urban areas where the cost People are living longer, healthier lives. But of living may be lower but basic services and not everyone has benefited from this achieve- jobs may be in short supply. ment or the higher quality of life that this This report makes the case that with plan- implies. Great disparities exist between and ning and the right investments in people within countries. Disparities in rights and now—to empower them to make choices that opportunities also exist between men and are not only good for themselves but for our women, girls and boys. Charting a path now global commons—our world of 7 billion can to development that promotes equality, rather have thriving, sustainable cities, productive than exacerbates or reinforces inequalities, is labour forces that can fuel economic growth, more important than ever. youth populations that contribute to the We all have a stake in the future of well-being of economies and societies, and humanity. Every individual, every government, a generation of older people who are healthy every business, is more interconnected and and actively engaged in the social and interdependent than ever, so what each of us economic affairs of their communities.
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