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The Guardian - Back to homeThe Guardian

Beyond 8 billion

As the world's population passes 8 billion, the series looks at the challenges faced by eight countries forecast to account for half the world's population growth by 2050

29 May 2023

  • Yuko Sugawara, left, and Manami Kuroyabu at a drop-in daycare facility in Nagi, where the birth rate is more than twice Japan's national average.

    Baby boomtown: does Nagi hold the secret to repopulating Japan?

    Fertility rate is more than twice the national average and nearly half of households have three or more children – thanks in no small part to generous daycare and an all-in approach to raising families

24 February 2023

  • Maria Margarette Villorente with baby Vinice at home in Manila

    Experience: I gave birth to the world’s ‘8 billionth baby’

    It was surreal. It was just past midnight and as soon as Vinice was delivered, we were surrounded by people

21 November 2022

  • A crowded market in Delhi, India. Photograph: Altaf Qadri/AP

    Beyond 8 billion: why the world’s population matters

    The world now contains 8bn people, according to the UN. Hannah Ellis-Peterson reports from India, which is on course to overtake China as the most populous nation

19 November 2022

  • Illustration of a couple take pictures in front of cherry blossoms in Tokyo; the Sugamo neighbourhood of the city, which is popular with older people; apartment complexes in the South Korean capital. Seoul.

    ‘I’m afraid to have children’: fear of an older future in Japan and South Korea

    As birth and fertility rates fall, there is official concern about the economic impact of a declining and ageing population

18 November 2022

  • From left; aerial photograph residential development west Des Moines, Iowa. An empty street in downtown Rockdale, Texas. East Indian stores in the Jackson Heights neighbourhood in Queens in New York.

    Population in the US: as small towns shrink, is immigration the answer?

    If a growing population is necessary for a healthy US economy, the country may have to rely on immigration to deliver it

17 November 2022

  • After school crowd in Batasan National High school. The public school caters to more than 18,000 students a day

    The school with 18,000 students: educating the Philippines’ booming population

    The Philippines young population and changing demographics could present crucial new opportunities for economic growth

16 November 2022

  • Abandoned buildings in Rēzekne, Latvia.

    ‘Without enough Latvians, we won’t be Latvia’: eastern Europe’s shrinking population

    Latvia’s population is 30% smaller than it was in 1990 and by 2050 numbers will be in decline in over half of Europe’s 52 countries

15 November 2022

  • Population grow in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania

    What Tanzania tells us about Africa’s population explosion as the world hits 8bn people

  • Composite image showing Syrian civilians living in Idlib camps, fruits and vegetables are displayed for sale at the Central de Abastos market in Mexico City, Tor Vergata students setting up an interactive market garden initiative, and a soldier fly farming in Kenya.

    Can the world feed 8bn people sustainably?

  • An illustration of eight parents before a globe, each holding a baby

    ‘I can’t give up on hope’: As the world’s population passes 8bn, new parents from Italy to India look to the future

  • China One Child

    Millions of missing women: China grapples with legacy of one-child policy as population ages

14 November 2022

  • 8bn Video Trail

    How has the world’s population grown since 1950?

    The number of people in the world has tripled in 70 years. In this visual explainer, we examine where the growth has been – and how it will change in the future
  • India to surpass China composite picture

    Why India overtaking China as most populous country is more than symbolic

    Moment hints at possible limits to unrelenting rise of China and raises questions about ability of India to reap demographic dividend
  • Visual illustration showing large crowds of people in India

    India faces deepening demographic divide as it prepares to overtake China as the world’s most populous country

    India’s entrenched north-south divide is growing as its population changes, with serious social and political consequences
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