July 11 2024

Population Matters, the global charity calling for an end to population growth, warns that as population numbers edge closer to 10 billion, women across the world will suffer most.

The warning comes on World Population Day marked by a UN report predicting another 2 billion people on the planet in the next 40 years, with the population projected to grow to over 10 billion by 2061.

The current figure of 8.1 billion is already unsustainable. Adding another 2 billion people to the global population will see millions more trapped in poverty, with women and girls the worst affected.

High birth rates, averaging four births or more amongst women in the world’s poorest nations, the result of a failure to close sexual and reproductive healthcare funding gaps, with 257 million women worldwide facing an unmet need for contraception.

Young girls in some of the poorest regions are facing the worst impacts of this worldwide failure, with child marriages and barriers to education resulting in too many young girls having their first babies before reaching adulthood. In 2024, 4.7 million babies were born to mothers under age 18, resulting in adverse health effects for women and children. (Source: UN World Population Prospects 2024) 

Dominic Nutt, Head of Campaigns at Population Matters, said:

“In the Global South, high birth rates signal girls are being left behind. In Sub-Saharan Africa the population is expected to double by the mid-2050. When families lack economic security, they often have more children to provide labour on subsistence farms or to provide care when they’re older. Larger families stretch resources, trapping future generations in the cycle of poverty.”

“Girls are more likely to be denied schooling so they can work, get married young and themselves produce babies, rather than learning, working and earning a decent income. Education is the key to higher incomes and to breaking the cycle of poverty.”

He said “The exponential growth of population puts pressure on natural resources, where demand soon outstrips supply, resulting in deforestation, drought, and desertification of arable land. Population growth is also recognised as one of the biggest drivers of carbon emissions, adding to climate change.”

“All this means that the climate becomes more erratic, resulting in more frequent and extreme natural disasters, subsistence farming becomes ever harder, poor families are forced off their land and migration increases. This adds to the cycle of poverty. We can already see the effects of high population growth increasing drought and accelerating deforestation in Ethiopia and Nigeria.”

“Young girls and women are being left behind, due to gaps in sexual and reproductive healthcare funding, and lack of progress in breaking down barriers to girls pursuing long-term education and career opportunities, resulting in the highest fertility rates located in the world’s poorest regions,” Mr Nutt said. 

A lower global population is the goal, as it will reduce pressure on natural resources, making our environmental crises that much easier to solve, creating a healthier planet and better lives for everyone already here.”

The UN World Population Prospects can be found here.

-ends-

Contact:

Dominic Nutt

Email: dominic.nutt@populationmatters.org

Tel: 07720467680

Notes to editors

1. State of World Population 2022, United Nations Population Fund.
   257 million women with an unmet need for family planning.
   https://www.unfpa.org/swp2022
2. 2024 Revision of World Population Prospects, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division.
   The global population is projected to peak at 10.3 billion.
   In 2024, 4.7 million babies were born to mothers under age 18, resulting in adverse health effects for women and children.
   https://population.un.org/wpp//
3. Dried Up Futures: How Population Growth Drives Drought and Desertification.
   https://populationmatters.org/resources/dried-up-futures-report/
4. Globally, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita and population growth remained the strongest drivers of CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion in the last decade – Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
   Sixth Assessment Report, Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate Change
   

Population Matters is a UK-based charity working globally to achieve a sustainable future for people and planet. Our mission is to drive positive, large-scale action through fostering choices that help achieve a sustainable human population and regenerate our environment.

populationmatters.org

UK charity number: 1114109