World population 2300

Every two years the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs' Population Division prepares the official United estimates and projections of world, regional and national population size and growth, and demographic indicators. The results for the most recent set of estimates and projections were published in World Population Prospects: The 2002 Revision, a three-volume set issued over the period 2003-2004. The estimates and projections in the 2002 Revision cover the period 1950-2050. The United Nations also prepares supplementary world population projections covering a much longer period, referred to as long-range projections. The United Nations previously published long-range projections on six occasions, each being consistent with the population projections of the following revisions of the World Population Prospects: 1968,1978,1980,1990,1996 and 1998. These publications presented long-range projections for the world and its major areas, and since 1990 set of projections, the long-range time horizon was until 2150. The Population Division has adopted two major innovations for this new set of long-range population projections based on the 2002 Revision. For the first time, the long-range projections are made at the national level, that is, for each of the 228 units constituting the world. In addition, the time horizon for the projections is extended to 2300, so as to allow for the eventual stabilization of the population in at least one scenario. In order to address the technical and substantive challenges posed by the preparation of long-range projections at the national level, the Population Division convened two meetings of the Technical Working Group on Long-Range Population Projections at United Nations Headquarters in New York. The purpose of the meetings was to discuss the assumptions, methodology and preliminary results of the national population projections to 2300. This volume presents the results of the long-range projections, World Population to 2300, and includes a detailed analysis. A series of essays on the issue of long-range projections have also been incorporated in this report, enriching the debate on this important topic. Experts from outside the United Nations, many of whom took part in the Technical Working Group meetings,authored these essays. The united Nations Population Division is grateful to the National Institute on Aging of the United States of America (NIA) whose grant help support this study. Acknowledgement is also due to Rodolfo A. Bulatao, who assisted the Population Division in the preparation of this report. The Population Division extends its appreciation to all the experts for their suggestions and contributions to the preparation of the long-range projections.