Population of Africa 2012
Back in 2009 it was reported that the population of Africa had exceeded one billion for the first time and a year later, figures claimed that numbers in the continent had reached 1,022,234,000. All of these statistics make Africa the second most populous continent on the planet, behind Asia.
2009 reports
The UN Population Fund stated in 2009 that the population of Africa had hit the one billion mark and had therefore doubled in size over the course of 27 years. With many families across the continent having no access to family planning, it was also claimed that numbers would rise further and possibly reach 1.9 billion by 2050.
The Population Fund’s Director Thoraya Obeid spoke to the BBC at the time and underlined the reasons behind the growing population.
“Africa countries are all growing fast… because there is large number of women who have no access to planning their families,” she said.
“It’s an African phenomenon of a large growing population and a large percentage of young people in the population.”
Population growth and life expectancy.
56 countries make up the continent of Africa and while population growth is relatively low in some areas, countries such as Nigeria and Uganda are increasing at an advanced rate. In most countries in the continent, the population growth is in excess of 2% every year.
In addition, there is a high proportion of younger people within the Africa population as a whole and the life expectancy is also low – less than 50 in many nations. This has reduced considerably over the course of the last twenty years with a widespread HIV and AIDS epidemic taking much of the blame for that statistic.
Infant mortality is also extremely high and in Angola, it is reported that there are 190 deaths per 1,000 live births. All of these statistics could be expected to lead to a fall in population numbers but in Africa, the issue over family planning leads to the reverse effect.
Demographics
As far as Demographics are concerned, the African nations as a whole are made up from such a diverse set of components that it is impossible to list them in full. However, in certain parts of the continent there has been an increase in Asian and even European settlers which has also served to boost the population statistics as a whole.
In former British colonies, this can be seen extensively and Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and South Africa are all good examples as to a growing set of diverse ethnicities.
The future
Any expert would find it hard to argue with the commonly held view that the population of Africa in 2012 and beyond is set for further increases. With little or no measures in place to address the issue, the 1.9 billion prediction for 2050 is entirely plausible.
