Africa
growing rapidly
«More
than half of global population growth between now and 2050 is expected to occur
in Africa. According to the UN’s medium-variant projection, the population of Africa
could more than double by mid-century, increasing from 1.1 billion today to 2.4
billion in 2050, and potentially reaching 4.2 billion by 2100.
Rapid population increase in Africa is anticipated
even if there is a substantial reduction of fertility levels in the near
future. The medium-variant projection assumes that fertility will fall from 4.9
children per women in 2005-2010 to 3.1 in 2045-2050, reaching 2.1 by 2095-2100.
The gap for Africa between the high and low variants of the new projections,
corresponding to half a child more or less per woman compared to the medium
variant, amounts to roughly 600 million people by 2050 (2.7 vs. 2.1 billion)
and potentially 3.2 billion people by 2100 (6.0 vs. 2.8 billion).
Regardless of
the uncertainty surrounding the future population of Africa, the region will
play a central role in shaping the size and distribution of world population
during this century.» (UN, 2013)
