Global population will reach seven billion this year, but there are signs that the growth rate has slowed, according to a study released by the private Population Reference Bureau.
Growth slowed from 2.1 per cent a year in the late 1960s to the current 1.2 per cent, a finding that should indicate some relief from population pressure in the coming years.
But the report released yesterday also found that some of the decline in birth rates has been offset by improvements in public health and medicine, which have extended life spans.
If the 2.1 per cent growth rate had continued since the 1960s, world population would have reached an estimated 8.7 billion by now.
It is likely that the world will continue to add people at a rate of one billion every 12 years.
