Only Pakistan outgrown Nigeria’s population since 1950, as males dorminate females

The new United Nations data on global population prospects has showed that only Pakistan has overtaken Nigeria, in terms of population size, since 1950.

The data sourced from its website traced the growth of world’s populations since 1950, the changes it has undergone and forecast how the rest of the century will be. It said Nigeria had moved from the 13th most populous country in 1950 to the seventh position.

The country overtook Bangladesh, France, Italy, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan and Germany to attain its current status.

Both Nigeria and Pakistan were listed among 21 countries that accounted for 75 per cent of world’s population in 1950. This year, they both sit among the 26 countries that control the same 75 per cent in the current 7.3 billion population.

The Asian country, which was behind Nigeria in 1950, now takes sixth position, following Brazil. The table is topped by China, India, the United States and Indonesia.

Coming behind Nigeria in the rank are Bangladesh, Russia, Mexico, Japan and Philippine, Ethiopia, Vietnam, Egypt, Germany and Iran. Others are Turkey, Democratic Republic of Congo, Thailand, the United Kingdom, France, South Africa, Myanmar and Tanzania.      

Sixty-five years back, only Nigeria and Egypt were the African countries on the list of the few countries that control three-fourth of world’s population.

It also listed Nigeria among the nine countries that are expected to account for more than half of the world’s projected population increase between 2015 and 2050. The countries were listed as India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, the United Republic of Tanzania, the United States of America, Indonesia and Uganda.

 “They are listed according to the size of their contribution to global population growth,” said the reported.

On the average, according to the UN study, the world has more females than males. But it listed Nigeria among exceptional countries where males dominate females. It put the country’s population at 182. 202 million, with the male gender taking 92.789 million. The rest 89.413 are females.

The report, like many other recent studies, tipped Africa as the leading driver of the new growth rate.

“Africa continues to experience very high rates of population growth. Between 2015 and 2050, the populations of 28 African countries are projected to more than double. By 2100, ten African countries are projected to increase by at least five-fold. They are: Angola, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Mali, Niger, Somalia, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania and Zambia,” it projected.