Overview

• The UN’s 2025 theme “Empowering young people to create the families they want in a fair and hopeful world” underscores youth agency in shaping demographic futures.
• A United Nations Environment Programme report warns that current consumption patterns could push humanity’s ecological footprint more than 50% beyond Earth’s capacity by 2030.
• Population growth remains fastest in Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and parts of the Middle East while countries such as Japan, Germany and Italy confront decline from aging populations.
• UN projections indicate the global total will near 9.7 billion by 2050, intensifying demands for sustainable resource management and accessible family planning.
• Policymakers and advocates emphasize that expanding reproductive health care and rights-based policies is essential to balance youthful bulges and aging societies.