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India’s place is unique not only because it is populous but also because it will maintain this status till the end of this century

Anxieties over population size and the Earth’s carrying capacity have died down, given the signs of the global population tending towards stability (although there is potential for its growth for another 50-60 years). The global population is going to peak at 10.3 billion by the 2080s. This growth from the current count of 8.2 billion does not seem enormous, and it is expected that after attaining this peak, it will slowly stabilise around 10.2 billion at the end of the century. Although these trends are quite promising, the geography of this count, along with its composition, is going to pose a real challenge in the coming times. While 28% of global citizens are found in countries whose population count has already peaked, another 10% are in 48 countries where the population sizes are expected to attain their respective peaks between 2025 and 2054. The rest of the world, consisting of 126 countries, is likely to experience population growth till it attains national peaks only by the end of this century.

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