World population will hit a dead end in THIS year — UN predicts 100mn drop by...

Scientists have estimated that the world population will see a drastic drop after the year 2080. Until then, the number of people will continue to rise and will reach around 10.8 billion. According to a United Nations report, the world will have 100 million fewer people by 2100. The declining world population has been flagged as a concern by experts. In 2022, the world population touched 8 billion, reaching four times what it was a century ago. The rising population is also an issue in countries like India. Meanwhile, Japan is struggling to increase its population. The good news is that the number of people is not coming down for at least the next 55 years. However, after this, a downward spiral is expected, with the figure reaching 10.2 billion by the end of the century.

Why having fewer people in the world is a problem

This will mostly be witnessed in rich, developed countries, where women's education and other rights are expected to be a factor in the reduction of the population. With increasing equality and opportunities, women are more likely to choose a career over babies. Another factor is the rising cost of living. With everything becoming expensive, people are not as interested in having babies. Stuart Gietel-Basten, a sociologist at Hong Kong University, told Nature that the bigger problem is the broken institution, which does not allow people to have more children. “‘[Low fertility rates]’ reflect broken systems and broken institutions that prevent people from having the number of children they want,” he said, adding that this is the "real crisis." Also Read: Are there really 8.2 billion people on Earth? Study suggests there is a huge miscalculation

People who argue for having more children state that fewer people in the world will have a direct impact on social programs, especially ones for taking care of the elderly. Some even suggest taxing those who choose not to have babies, although the idea has been panned as absurd. Experts say that the real problem behind low fertility is the system, which needs to be fixed to maintain a healthy world population.