World Is Nearing Peak Population

COMMENTARY By Bill King – RCP ContributorMarch 02, 2023

the UN estimates the most likely case is that the world’s population will top out around 10 billion in 2080 and then begin a long, slow decline. Other modelers are projecting the peak will be reached in 2060 at 9 billion and then decline more rapidly. Some scenarios predict there will be fewer people on the planet at the end of century than there are now.

The United Nation’s predictions for the U.S. are similar, with our population topping out at around 380 million near the end of the century. This is consistent with the Congressional Budget Office projections, which assume the U.S. annual population growth rate over the next 20 years will decline from 0.5% to 0.2%. Without immigration, the U.S. population would begin to decline around 2035.