NOTES TO EDITORS
The study was in part funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. It was conducted by researchers at the University of Washington, Seattle, USA.
[1] The latest (2019) UN Population Division report estimates that world population is likely to reach 10.88 billion by 2100 (https://population.un.org/wpp/Publications/Files/WPP2019_Volume-I_Comprehensive-Tables.pdf) The difference between the new GBD projections and UN Population Division forecasts can largely be explained by the unprecedented pace of fertility decline predicted in sub-Saharan Africa (resulting in 702 million fewer people by 2100 than UN Population Division forecasts), and sustained declines in fertility lower than the population replacement level (2.1 births per woman) in many countries—resulting in estimates of 584 million fewer people in south Asia and 447 million less in southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania by the century’s end than UN Population Division forecasts.
Population forecasts from UN Population Division use just past time trends as the determinant of future trajectories for fertility and mortality. Such an approach does not allow for alternative scenarios linked to policies or other drivers of fertility and mortality. In the new study by IHME, researchers developed a statistical modelling strategy that use past and forecasted trends in drivers of fertility (education and met need for modern contraceptives), mortality (sociodemographic variables and more than 70 risk factors for disease) and migration (sociodemographic variables, deaths due to conflict and natural disasters, and the difference between birth and death rates). Also, their model incorporates uncertainty about migration and accounts for women delaying childbirth as they become more educated. They used the model to develop a reference scenario and four alternative scenarios to show the demographic implications of policies which impact the scale-up of educational attainment and access to reproductive health services, including a scenario in which the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on universal access to secondary education and contraception by 2030 are met (figure 2). They also assessed potential economic and geopolitical effects of demographic change this century.
[2] Quotes direct from authors and cannot be found in the text of the Article.
[3] Lancet Migration is a global collaboration between The Lancet and researchers, implementers, and others in the field of migration and health that aims to address evidence gaps and drive policy change building on the recommendations of the UCL-Lancet Commission on Migration and Health published in December 2018. www.migrationandhealth.org