Nigeria projected to become the world's second most populous nation by 2100

NIGERIA is projected to become the second most populous nation on earth by 2100 as a recent United Nations (UN) document has estimated that the population will balloon overtaking that of China making the country number two behind India.

According to a recent UN document, by 2030 the world population will be 8.5bn and this will grow to 9.7bn by 2050. This growth will be heavily influenced by Africa as according to the report, at least four of the top 10 countries in the world in terms of population count will be located in Sub-Saharan Africa.

It is estimated that by around 2100, Nigeria will overtake China as the second-most populous country in the world, according to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) 2020 report. In it recent World Population Peak report 2020, the IHME stated that the largest increases in population between 2020 and 2100 will take place in India, Nigeria, US, Pakistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Egypt and Tanzania.

Surprisingly, the report said that the number of people on the planet may actually start to shrink well before the year 2100, contrary to the 2019 UN report projecting a steady rise over the years. According to the UN, the world population is set to steadily rise over the years to 8.5bn in 2030, to 9.7bn in 2050 and to 10.9bn in 2100.

However, IHME paints a different picture, projecting the world population will peak at 9.7bn in 2064. Following this trajectory, there could be 8.8 billion people in 2100, approximately 2 billion fewer than previously thought.

Its report read:  “More than half of the projected shrink in the global population up to 2100 will be concentrated in China, Indonesia, and Brazil, with China’s total population projected to drop by almost half to 732m by 2100.”  Sub-Saharan Africa is the only region that is expected to see growth by century’s end, the report said.

In addition, the report highlighted the higher life expectancies, migration rates and lower fertility rates as few reasons for projections of the population growth. It is believed that by 2100, over a quarter of the world or nearly 2.37bn will be aged 65 years and above.