A UN report predicting that the world’s population will be almost 10-billion by 2050 points to fundamental 21st-century shifts for SA. Among the South African findings of the 2015 revision of the UN’s World Population Prospects are: • The population will grow from 54.5-million in 2015 to 65.54-million in 2050 and 65.7-million in 2100; • By 2050 it will be the world’s 29th biggest country by population size; • The proportion of the population in the 0-14 years age group will fall from 29.2% in 2015 to 21.4% in 2050 and 16.6% in 2100; • The proportion of over-60s will increase from 8.7% in 2015 to 17.5% in 2050 and 34.6% in 2100; • The median age will increase from 25.7 years in 2015 to 33.9 years in 2050 and 42.5 years in 2100; • The average number of children per woman will decline from 2.4 in 2010-2015 to 1.87 in 2045-2050 and 1.8 in 2095-2100; • Life expectancy at birth will increase from 57.1 years in 2010-2015 to 68.2 years in 2045-2050 and 77.6 years in 2095-2100; • Infant mort...
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