Since adopting the landmark Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action1 at the 1995 World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen,2 the global community has reached higher levels of prosperity, substantially reduced poverty, and in many parts of the world people are living longer. Healthy years lived have also increased. At the same time, the world is facing demographic shifts, growing inequalities, climate change and environmental degradation and rapid technological transformation, all of which are impacting people, planet and prosperity.
The demographic landscape has evolved greatly in recent decades. While the speed, timing and scope of the demographic transition often vary across and within regions, the overall trend is clear: population growth is declining, and population age structures are shifting. The median age in most countries is rising, but at different rates and from different starting points. The world’s population is projected to grow for another 50 to 60 years, reaching a peak of around 10.3 billion people in the mid-2080s, up from 8.2 billion in 2025, before gradually declining to 10.2 billion people by the end of the century.