World to have 9.7b people in 30 years

India will pass China as most populous nation around 2027, UN report says

Humankind's numbers may reach 9.7 billion by 2050 and India is poised to overtake China as the world's most populous nation around 2027, according to a new United Nations report.

The study concluded that the current 7.7 billion level will increase by 2 billion people in the next 30 years, reaching 9.7 billion by 2050. The population may peak at nearly 11 billion around 2100, John Wilmoth, director of the population division of UN's Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN-DESA), told a news conference on Monday.