Washington CEO Inc. By the end of the 21st century the population of the world will double, from today's 5.7 billion to 11 billion. Contrary to popular belief, population is not increasing exponentially. Indeed, the growth rate has fallen steadily since the late 1960s and is now about 1.5 percent per year. The annual population increase peaked in the late 1980s and has declined to 85 million a year, still a pretty sizable number. The increase will drop to 50 million per year in the second quarter of the next century and to 19 million per year by 2099.
Population increase is merely the difference between births and deaths.
Interestingly, the number of births is expected to remain relatively constant at 135 million per year for the next four decades or more, whereas the number of deaths will rise steadily from the present 50 million per year. Asia grows, Europe shrinks Growth will not be uniform across the globe. Asia will continue to be the largest, with 60 percent of the world's population. Asia alone will add almost 3 billion people in the next century. Latin America's percentage will remain constant at 8 percent, while North America's will drop from 5 percent today to 3 percent by 2100.