History & Records

#Population: Nigerians Will Outnumber Americans By 2060- SURVEY

Published

8 years ago

October 3, 2016

A population forecast has shown that by 2060, there will be more Nigerians than Americans in the world, if Nigeria’s rapidly growing population; high fertility rate and large youth population continue to witness rapid expansion.

A projection of the UN data showing the population growth of the 12 most populous countries between 1950 and 2060 shows that Nigeria’s population currently at around 180 million, will exceed 473 million by 2060.

The projection published by the World Economic Forum, WEF, said Nigeria, currently the 7th most populous country, would eventually overtake the United States of America to become the 3rd most populous nation after India and China.

According to the projection, current trends showed that the list of the world’s most populous nations could look very different by 2060.

In 1950, Nigeria had a population of around 37 million. By 2015, it was more than 182 million and by 2060, is projected to reach 473,173,090, surpassing the projected US population of 403,503,650.

Data from the UN revealed that in the 1950s the world looked very different when the global population was around 2.5 billion, but today, almost 7.5 billion people live on earth and the number is expected to rise to 9.7 billion by 2050.

“In the middle of the 20th Century, China was home to 500 million people and, like today, it was the world’s the most populous nation, followed by India and the United States.

“Over the past half century, China has remained in the top spot, but it is expected to be overtaken by India in 2022.

“In 2020, India is predicted to have over 1,383,000 million citizens, compared to China’s 1,402,000 million.

Just eight years later, India is set to have gained over 100 million people, while China’s population is only expected to have increased by 1.4 million.

The Democratic Republic of Congo, which had a population of around 12 million in 1950, is expected to reach 237 million by 2060.

The animation shows how the nation is projected to experience huge growth in its youth population.

By contrast, Brazil, consistently one of the world’s most populous countries, will see its ageing population increase while overall numbers decline.

European countries including the UK, Germany and Italy were among the world’s most populous nations in the 1950s. Today, they no longer make the top 12. The animation also shows Russia, the 4th most populous country in 1950, disappearing from the list by 2040