Armenia’s population expected to shrink to 2.6 million people by 2050 –UNFPA
YEREVAN, November 15. /ARKA/. Armenia’s population is expected to shrink to 2.6 million people by 2050, UN Population Fund (UNFPA) program coordinator in Armenia Anna Hovhannisyan said at a press conference on Tuesday as the global population hit 8 billion after having added a billion people in the last 12 years,.
"At the moment, Armenia’s total fertility rate (per woman) is 1.6, according to 2021 official statistics. This figure will be decreasing until 2050," she said.
According to Hovhannisyan, besides Armenia, also Georgia and Russia will see their populations decline until 2050. The decrease of population in Armenia is resulting from a drop in total fertility rate as well as from the changes in emigration rates.
The expert stressed that even Armenian government-designed programs to promote birth rate will not change the situation for the better.
She said the reasons behind birthrate decrease in Armenia are socio-economic problems. According to some studies, people do not have as many children as they wish for a number of different reasons such as lack of a well-paid job, the need to improve living conditions, and so on.
Anna Hovhannisyan said also the global population will reach 9.7 billion people by 2050 and will peak at 14 billion in 2080.
"According to our forecasts, this number will remain until 2100, after which the population will begin to decline," she said.
According to Hovhannisyan, India will overtake China as the world’s most populous country next year. The population prospects report said that India’s population stands at 1.412 billion in 2022, compared with China’s 1.426 billion. India is projected to have a population of 1.668 billion in 2050, way ahead of China’s 1.317 billion people by the middle of the century.
Major improvements in public health t have lowered the risk of death and increased life expectancy. For example, in 2000, the average life expectancy was 60-65 years, in 2019, it was 72 years, and in 2050 it is expected to be 77 years.
In Armenia, the life expectancy is already 77 years. Hovhannisyan said that at present the total fertility rate in the world is 2.5, and is expected to fall to 2.1 by 2100.
According to the latest data, Armenia’s resident population as of October 1, 2022 stood at 2, 970,600 people, up from 2, 967,100 people as of October 1, 2021. -0-
