At the current growth rate, Nigeria’s population will surpass China’s by 2100, a new study suggests.
China, which is currently the most populous nation in the world, is expected to peak at 1.4 billion in four years time before nearly halving to 732 million by 2100 while India will become the world’s most populous nation.
The study predicts that within the same period, Nigeria’s population will hit 791 million, making it the second-largest country in the world.
The research which was conducted by the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation states that the general population of the world will drop due to a reduction in fertility rates.
However, the population of sub-Saharan Africa – arguably the poorest region in the world – is expected to triple in size to more than three billion people by 2100.
In an interview with BBC, researcher, Christopher Murray, aprof., said the population boom in sub-Saharan Africa would lead to migration of Africans to many European and Asian countries in need of higher population.
This, he said, would, however, lead to a high incidence of racism.
Murray, who is a former director of the Harvard Centre for Population and Development Studies, said, “We will have many more people of African descent in many more countries as we go through this.
“Global recognition of the challenges around racism are going to be all the more critical if there are large numbers of people of African descent in many countries.”
According to the research, falling fertility rates mean nearly every country could have shrinking populations by the end of the century.
The number of children under the age of five will fall from 681 million in 2017 to 401 million in 2100. Conversely, the number of over 80-year-olds will soar from 141 million in 2017 to 866 million within the same period.
About 23 nations – including Spain and Japan – are expected to see their populations halve by 2100.
