Submitted by Taps Coogan on the 26th of April 2018 to The Sounding Line.

The following animated graphic, created by geographer Simon Kuestenmacher, shows the rapidly changing population distribution of the world based on UN population data and projections from 1950 until 2100.

In 1950, Africa and Asia accounted for roughly 65% of the world’s population. Today the two continents represent 75% of the world’s population and, if estimates are correct, they will represent over 82% of the world’s population by year 2100. By 2100, Africa’s population will have increased by an astonishing 17 times from 250 million people in 1950 to over 4.4 billion. Between today and 2050, the populations of 26 African countries are expected double. Asia’s population, which has grown rapidly since the 1950s, is expected to peak at 5.27 billion in 2055 and then decline by nearly half a billion people by 2100.

By comparison, the populations of Oceania, North America, Latin America & the Caribbean, and Europe will change very little. Europe’s population is expected to decline from a peak of 740 million today to 650 million by 2100 while Oceania, North America, and Latin America & the Caribbean will grow modestly.

Of course, estimates of anything several decades into the future should be taken with a grain of salt. Given that much of Africa and Asia remain economically underdeveloped and major food importers, the challenge of supporting such large increases in population will be immense. So will be the pressure to immigrate from undeveloped economies in Africa and Asia to developed economies in Oceania, Europe, and North America. Depending on the receptivity of developed economies to large scale immigration, the UN may be correct about the origin of population growth but not its destination.

To view the flow of immigration to and from every country in the world, check out this article.

P.S. If you would like to be updated via email when we post a new article, please click here. It’s free and we won’t send any promotional materials.