- (AFP) -- Taking super-sizing to new levels, the US is
heading for a growth spurt that will see its population boom 43 per cent
by 2050.
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- Most rich countries are ominously down-sizing, spelling
major changes in world economics and lifestyles.
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- But the US is bucking the trend. Its population of 293.6
million is expected to blossom to 419.9 million in the next 45 years.
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- Australia will be following in moderation, rising from
just over 20 million to a robust 26.3 million in the same time span.
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- In contrast, Europe's rapidly ageing population will
drop by 8 per cent, a US research institute said yesterday.
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- Europe has 728 million people and will pull back to 668
million, according to the Population Reference Bureau.
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- Possibly the biggest shock will be felt in Japan. The
world's second-richest country will shrink by a dramatic 21 per cent, from
127.6 million people to 100.6 million.
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- A real boom will happen in some of the poorest and most
unstable nations.
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- India will leapfrog China to become the world's most
populous country.
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- At least an additional 1000 million people will live
in the world's poorest African countries by 2050. Violence-struck Nigeria
is expected to more than double its numbers to exceed 300 million people.
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- And two war-ravaged nations will experience a huge population
boom.
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- Afghanistan's population will nearly triple, from 28.5
million to 81.9 million, while Iraq's will more than double, from 25.9
million people today to 57.9 million in 2050.
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- "Nearly 99 per cent of all population increase takes
place in poor countries, while population size is static or declining in
the rich nations," the Washington-based research institute said.
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- "Among the major industrialised nations, only the
United States now has significant population growth," it said.
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- © Herald and Weekly Times
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- http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/s tory_page/0,5478,10488715%255E663,00.html
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