The world's population has just gone past seven billion on 31 October 2011. The birthday may be emblematic, but the demographic marker it symbolises is startlingly real - there are now twice as many people alive on earth as there were as recently as the 1960s.
Behind the seven billion population figure lies a complicated demographic picture - one that masks huge disparities. The current rate of growth means that there are 78 million more people every year. Nearly all of that growth - 97 out of every 100 people - is occurring in less developed countries. In developed nations, on the other hand, the population growth rate has largely stagnated: in Japan and across Europe, for instance, fertility rates are about 1.5 births per woman, bringing concerns about lower fertility and ageing.
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