China Family Planning Association fan,
which reads 'Implementing family
planning is one of China's national policies'.
Powerhouse Museum collection.

Global population concerns

The world's population has exploded since the mid 1700s. As countries became industrialised and less vulnerable to famines and epidemics, death rates dropped and numbers began to grow dramatically. Then through the 1800s birth rates started to fall in industrialised countries such as Australia. As people became more prosperous, they chose to have fewer children. Populations in these countries stopped growing and reached a stable size.

By contrast, the populations of developing countries have continued to grow. To slow down the birth rate, governments in many of these countries have introduced family planning programs. Through these, people have access to a wide range of modern contraceptives and information about them. In Asia these programs have been spectacularly successful. This means that while the world's population continues to grow, the rate of growth is slowing down. The population is now around 5.6 billion, and demographers estimate that it will stabilise at around 11 billion by the year 2050.

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