Population boom – can resources keep up?

Can our resources keep up?

The global population passed the seven billion mark in 2011, having grown by a full billion since 1999. Future growth will take numbers to nine billion by 2050. The overwhelming driver of this population increase has come from developing countries and this will remain the case. This is having a significant impact on the demand side of the global economy.

growthchart
Perhaps the most obvious implication of the growing global population is that it raises demand for resources, including energy, water, food and housing. These resources have already seen strong price increases in recent years as emerging economies have grown and begun to consume a growing share of the world’s resources.