Researchers: World Population to Reach 7 Billion This Year

Looking much further ahead, the National Institute for Demographic Studies (INED) predicts a continuing rise in the overall population figures until the total stabilizes somewhere between nine and 10 billion worldwide by the end of the century.

From six billion people, the figure estimated in 1999, the gap between the global birth and death rates has swiftly brought the total figure towards the next billion in just 12 years.

INED expects it to take a further 14 years to reach eight billion people before the figures start stabilizing, according to the study which pulls together research carried out by the United Nations, the World Bank and several major national institutes.