Published: High-Level Panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda

Abstract: The population of the world reached 7 billion in 2011, an addition of 4 billion people since 1960. According to United Nations projections, another 1.4 billion people will be added by 2030. This paper discusses global demographic trends with a focus on their implications for the size and rate of growth of the labor force. We draw on estimates and projections in the U.N.’s World Population Prospects: 2010 Revision (United Nations Population Division 2011).