India's population to overtake China's
WASHINGTON, Aug. 18 (UPI) -- Statistics indicate within 50 years, India will overtake China as the world's most populous nation as the global population swells past 9 billion.
The Population Reference Bureau, based in Washington, said by 2050, India is expected to grow from 1.08 billion to 1.63 billion people, overtaking China, which is forecast to reach 1.44 billion from 1.3 billion currently.
With the exception of the United States, which is expected to grow by 50 percent to 420 million people, other western developed countries will register population declines, the bureau predicted.
If current trends continue in Eastern Europe, the decline will be marked, with Bulgaria facing a loss of 38 percent of its 7.8 million inhabitants, and Russia declining by 17 percent, or 25 million people.
The projections are based on infant mortality rates, life expectancy, fertility rates and age structure, as well as factors like contraception and AIDS rates.
The bureau acknowledged what the study cannot predict is how migration between nations may spread the effects of population growth, the BBC reports.
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