8 BILLION? Ugandan baby boy, Elijah, who weighed 3KG becomes the 8th billion person to enter the world

Information reaching Kossyderrickent has it that Ugandan baby boy, Elijah, who weighed 3KG becomes the 8th billion person to enter the world. 

The world’s population will reach 8 billion people on Tuesday, representing a “milestone in human development” before birth rates start to slow, according to a projection from the United Nations.

In a statement, the UN said the figure meant 1 billion people had been added to the global population in just 12 years.

“This unprecedented growth is due to the gradual increase in human lifespan owing to improvements in public health, nutrition, personal hygiene and medicine. It is also the result of high and persistent levels of fertility in some countries,” the UN statement read.

Middle-income countries, mostly in Asia, accounted for most of the growth over the past decade, gaining some 700 million people since 2011. India added about 180 million people, and is set to surpass China as the world’s most populous nation next year.

But even while the global population reaches new highs, demographers note the growth rate has fallen steadily to less than 1% per year. This should keep the world from reaching 9 billion people until 2037. The UN projects the global population will peak at around 10.4 billion people in the 2080s and remain at that level until 2100.

Most of the 2.4 billion people to be added before the global population peaks will be born in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the UN, marking a shift away from China and India.

Information reads: “”The 8th billion person to enter this world was born in Uganda 🇺🇬

His name is Elijah & weighed 3kg.”

The world’s population milestone of 8 billion people has long-term significance for both rich and poor countries. While it took hundreds of thousands of years for the world’s population to reach 1 billion, the world grew from 7 billion to 8 billion just since 2010, a reflection of advancements in health.  

As the world is expected to grow even more to over 10 billion during the next 60 years as the U.N.’s population division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) reported, population growth is slowing relative to the past, and the U.N. warns that the challenges of feeding, housing and keeping that level of people from polluting the climate will be significant. On the bright side, the increase in global life expectancy grew to almost 73 years, and is expected to reach 77 years in 2050.

Another key point in the U.N.’s population report, updated in its November brief, is the gender divide: Today there are just slightly more men than women, but that even out by 2050. 

The ‘8 billion’ person number is also a wake-up call for the U.S. since the report says that global migration “will be the sole driver of population growth in high-income countries.” 

The report was originally published on World Population Day five months ago. It projected Tuesday as the day for the 8 billion person milestone, now dubbed the “Day of Eight Billion,” to be launched by DESA, the U.N.’s health agency (WHO), and the U.N.’s population fund (UNFPA) at U.N. Headquarters in New York. A more recent policy brief – with graphs and projections by DESA was updated this month.  

The global population is growing at its slowest rate since 1950 with under 1% growth in 2020. The report estimates that there will be 8.5 billion people in 2030 and 9.7 billion in 2050 and then peak at 10.4 billion people during the 2080s and remain at that level until 2100. 

So, how do we know that the eight billionth baby was born today? 

Frankly, the U.N. says, we don’t.