New York- The world population will increase by 2.5 billion
in the next 43 years, boosting the total number of people on earth to
9.2 billion by 2050 - half of whom will be over 60 years old, the UN
population division said Tuesday.

The population division, which studies trends based on national
censuses and makes projections and estimates of world population,
said its new numbers for the coming four decades were revised
downward from 2006 estimates.

Fertility rates in less developed countries are expected to drop
from 2.75 children per woman in 2005-2010 to 2.05 children per woman
in the 2045-2050 period, it said, making the revision necessary.

Most of the increase in the next 43 years will take place in less
developed regions, and the population in developed nations will
remain unchanged, at 1.2 billion for the same period.

Increases in population in developed nations would come from
migration, estimated at an average of 2.3 million people annually,
the report said.

It said the world population will be 6.7 billion by this July. In
1950, the world population stood at just 2.5 billion, the same amount
the population is expected to increase by 2050.

Between 2005 and 2050, half of the increase of 2.5 billion in
population will be among people aged 60 and over, from 245 million in
that demographic in 2005 to 406 million in 2050. The number of
children under 15 will decline during the same period.