According to the UN, the world’s population will surpass 7 billion at the end of October, a few months earlier than had been expected. The global total will continue to rise slowly until 2100, when it will flatten out at 10.1 billion. During the period of fastest growth, in the late 1980s, the world’s population was rising by over 88m a year. Now annual growth is down to 75m and by 2050 it will be only 40m. source: The Economist