Population - World population grows by 66 million people
The world's population has grown by almost 66 million people this year. According to the German Foundation for World Population (DSW), there were 8,073,859,407 people living on the planet at the turn of the year. Although this is more than ever before, the increase has been slowing down for decades.
The number of people rose most rapidly between 1965 and 1970, since when relative growth has almost halved, according to the United Nations.
According to the foundation, the reason for this is that women are having fewer children on average. The trend is different in Africa: according to the DSW, the population there is expected to reach 2.5 billion by 2080, more than twice as many as today. Women there often have many children at an early age because sex education is inadequate, access to contraceptives is often difficult and there is a lack of gender equality.
"Furthermore, in too many societies and regions, children are still seen as an insurance policy for old age or a sign of prosperity," explained Jan Kreutzberg, Managing Director of the World Population Foundation. Women should be able to decide for themselves when and with whom they have how many children.
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Source: www.stern.de
