About World Population Day (WPD):
- Observed annually on July 11, World Population Day is a United Nations initiative aimed at raising awareness about the challenges and opportunities of global population growth.
- With the world population now surpassing 8.2 billion, the day highlights the importance of sustainable development, equitable access to resources, reproductive rights, and gender equality.
- World Population Day 2025 Theme: ‘Empowering young people to create the families they want in a fair and hopeful world’.
- History:
- WPD was established by the then-Governing Council of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in 1989, following the global interest generated by "Five Billion Day" on 11 July 1987, when the world's population reached 5 billion.
- Dr KC Zachariah, a senior demographer at the World Bank, suggested that this day be commemorated.
- In December 1990, the UN General Assembly decided to keep celebrating WPD annually to promote understanding of population issues and how they connect to the environment and development.
- The first WPD was celebrated on July 11, 1990, in over 90 countries.
Key Facts on World's Population:
- The world's population has increased by over three times since the middle of the 20th century.
- According to the UN, there were 2 billion people on the planet as of July 2025.
- The population is predicted to peak at 10.4 billion in the middle of the 2080s, having reached7 billion in 2050.
- India leads globally with 1.46 billion people, followed by China's 1.41 billion.
- India’s total fertility rate has fallen below the replacement level.
- India’s population is expected to grow to approximately7 billion before beginning to decline around 40 years from now, as stated in the UN Population Fund’s (UNFPA) 2025 State of World Population Report.
