DHURAISAMY

Estimating the future is fraught with uncertainty. Time makes fools of all prophets. But the broad contours of humanity's destiny can be sketched, at least tentatively. The latest published by the UN, provides provocative insights into what we might expect over the present century. The headline finding is that the world's population will reach a peak of 10·4 billion people by the 2080s, before stabilising at that level until 2100. In the short term, 8 billion people will populate the planet by November, 2022. And by 2050, that figure will have risen to 9·7 billion people. In the league table of nations, India will pass China as the most populous country in 2023. These numbers reflect the otherwise hidden finding that the growth rate of the world's human family fell below 1% for the first time since 1950.