CPC Director marks world population reaching 8 billion

The UN predicts that the world’s population will reach 8 billion on 15 November 2022. To mark this significant milestone, Population Europe hosted a webinar, ‘How far have we come, and where are we headed?’.

The webinar brought together demographers from five European population centres, with discussions focusing on how the world has evolved since reaching 5 billion inhabitants in 1987, and how the future might look.



The panel discussed crucial questions about global demographic trends such as:

• Are countries moving in the same direction, with low mortality and low fertility?
• To what extent have government interventions affected demographic behaviours?
• How much further could fertility rates decline?
• How can population growth be decoupled from potential negative impacts to sustainable development?
• How might intergenerational support systems look in the future so that generations can work together?
• Can societies become truly child- and family-friendly?

Professor Jane Falkingham OBE, Director of the ESRC Centre for Population Change and PI of Connecting Generations, discussed intergenerational support systems in post-demographic transition ageing societies. Her talk considered how the life-course has changed in recent decades and the impact on support.

Jane considered future social change, reflecting on the need for intergenerational solidarity and the importance of generations working together.

Also speaking at the event were:

• Professor Bruno Masquelier – Professor at the Centre for Demographic Research, Louvain University, Belgium
• Dr Tomáš Sobotka – Head of the VID research group on Fertility and Family, Vienna Institute of Demography (OeAW), Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and Global Human Capital (IIASA, OeAW, University of Vienna), Vienna.
• Dr. Frank Swiaczny – Senior Researcher at the German Federal Institute for Population Research and Executive Director of the German Society for Demography.
• Professor Helga de Valk – Director of the Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (NIDI) and Professor of Migration and the Life Course at the University of Groningen.

Posted 01/11/2022 15:53