Not everyone agrees the world is overpopulated but there is agreement that there are real issues with an expanding population, of which food supplies are just the most obvious.

Data from the World Resources Institute (WRI) suggests that global population will increase by 34% by 2050 - an extra 2.3 billion people. To consider that the entire global population was 2.5 billion in 1950 gives an idea of the challenges which lie ahead.

It's intuitive that more people require more resources and use more energy, but when you consider many countries are still developing, it explains why the relationship between the two isn't linear. For example, China's population rose by 15% between 1990 and 2005, yet energy usage nearly doubled.

While China is currently the most populous country on the planet, projections show that it will be overtaken by India in 2028. Both countries will account for around a third of the global population.

More people demanding more resources pose a real challenge in the years to come. Some argue that things could be greatly improved through a more even distribution of resources. Others maintain that population control is a taboo which has to be tackled sooner rather than later.

• DATA: Global population

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