By Waheed Abbas

The world population has tripled over the last 60 years to nearly seven billion – more precisely at 6,908,688,378, according to a UN report.

This growth pattern is not found in all the regions of the world, much less in all countries. In general terms, population growth was steepest in Africa and Asia and almost non-existent in Europe. Within this period of 60 years (1950–2010), the population in Eastern Africa increased five times, while the number of people in Middle Africa increased almost as much, closely followed by the Western Africa region, The World's Women 2010, Trends and Statistics report said.

The two other African regions, Northern and Southern Africa, also registered well above the world average increase in the number of people – around four times as many.

A similarly significant growth of population – around four times – is also evident in Western Asia and Central America. In European regions, however, the growth was modest, with an increase in the number of people of between 30–40 per cent. During the same period the population in Northern America doubled.

In absolute terms, the world in 1950 was home to around 2.5 billion people, reaching 3 billion in 1960, 3.7 billion in 1970, over 4.4 billion in 1980, 5.3 billion in 1990 and over 6.1 billion in 2000.

As for the geographical distribution of the world’s population in 2010, over one quarter is located in South-Central Asia (26 per cent) and a little less in Eastern Asia (23 per cent). Europe has around 11 per cent of the world’s population, while South-Eastern Asia is home to 8 per cent.

South and Northern America are next with 6 and 5 per cent, respectively, while two African regions, Eastern and Western, have 5 and 4 per cent, respectively, followed by Western Asia, Northern Africa, and Southern and Middle Africa combined (each with around 3 per cent). The share of Central America is 2 per cent, and Oceania and the Caribbean combined make up 1 per cent. Thus Asia – more specifically the South-Central, Eastern and South-Eastern regions – is inhabited by 57 per cent of all the people in the world.

Distribution by sex

There are approximately 57 million more men than women in the world in 2010. At the global level, the percentages are almost equal: 50.4 per cent men and 49.6 per cent women or, using the male/female ratio, 102 males for every 100 females. It has to be emphasised that this ratio does not apply to all age groups. In fact, there is a “gender spiral” – more boys and men are in the younger age groups and more women are in the older age groups.

Europe in general is home to many more women than men. In Eastern Europe there are 88 men per 100 women, and that ratio in other parts of Europe (Western, Southern and Northern) has a value of 96. At the other end of the spectrum, in South-Central, Western and Eastern Asia, there are approximately 106 men per 100 women. Somewhere in the middle are South-Eastern Asia, Oceania and Western Africa, where the number of men and women is almost equal.

Of the most populous countries, China (with a ratio of 108 men per 100 women), India (107), Pakistan (106) and, to a lesser extent, Bangladesh (102) are at the very top of the list of countries where the “shortage” of women might have adverse consequences in the shaping of marriages.

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