"<p><span style=\"background-color: transparent;\">The world's population is&nbsp;</span><a href=\"https://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"background-color: transparent;\">7.6 billion</a><span style=\"background-color: transparent;\"> today and is expected to reach 9.8 billion in 2050. Most population growth is expected to come from countries in sub-Saharan Africa, where fertility rates are among the highest. Countries with higher economic status and </span><a href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4096045/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"background-color: transparent;\">women’s empowerment</a><span style=\"background-color: transparent;\"> tend to have lower fertility rates.</span></p>"

<p><span style="background-color: transparent;">The world's population is&nbsp;</span><a href="https://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent;">7.6 billion</a><span style="background-color: transparent;"> today and is expected to reach 9.8 billion in 2050. Most population growth is expected to come from countries in sub-Saharan Africa, where fertility rates are among the highest. Countries with higher economic status and </span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4096045/%5C" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent;">women’s empowerment</a><span style="background-color: transparent;"> tend to have lower fertility rates.</span></p>

"<h2>Poverty rates are declining</h2><p>According to the World Bank, between 1981 and 2017, the percentage of the population living in extreme poverty has decreased from 42 percent to 9.2 percent, and the absolute number of poor has decreased from <a href=\"http://iresearch.worldbank.org/PovcalNet/povDuplicateWB.aspx\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color: rgb(44, 117, 176);\">1.9 billion</a> to 689 million. East Asia has seen the most improvement, and though the poverty rate has declined in sub-Saharan Africa, the absolute number of people in poverty has increased due to rapid population growth.<span style=\"color: rgb(64, 62, 60);\"> </span></p>"

"<h2>Living conditions and health are improving</h2><p>Infant mortality has been declining, and the percentage of the population with access to vital services like <a href=\"https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.H2O.SAFE.ZS\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">clean water</a> and <a href=\"https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.STA.ACSN\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">sanitation</a> has increased.&nbsp;These trends are measures of improved human well-being.</p>"

"<h2>Access to the Internet is increasing</h2><p>Most of the world’s population is now <a href=\"https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ADT.LITR.ZS\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">literate</a>, and access to information on the Internet is increasing. Between 1993 and 2016, Internet usage increased to <a href=\"https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/it.net.user.zs\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">45 percent</a> of the global population, though this is skewed toward developed countries, where <a href=\"https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Documents/facts/ICTFactsFigures2017.pdf\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">94 percent</a> of young people aged 15-24 use the Internet, while only 30 percent do in least developed countries.&nbsp;<a href=\"https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/infrastructure-industrialization/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Sustainable Development Goal 9</a> aims to provide Internet access to all by 2020.</p>"

<h2>Access to the Internet is increasing</h2><p>Most of the world’s population is now <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ADT.LITR.ZS" target="_blank">literate</a>, and access to information on the Internet is increasing. Between 1993 and 2016, Internet usage increased to <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/it.net.user.zs" target="_blank">45 percent</a> of the global population, though this is skewed toward developed countries, where <a href="https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Documents/facts/ICTFactsFigures2017.pdf" target="_blank">94 percent</a> of young people aged 15-24 use the Internet, while only 30 percent do in least developed countries.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/infrastructure-industrialization/" target="_blank">Sustainable Development Goal 9</a> aims to provide Internet access to all by 2020.</p>

"<h2>Yet inequalities remain</h2><p>The <a href=\"http://www.oecd.org/social/inequality.htm\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">OECD</a> has found that wealth inequality in affiliated countries is higher now than at any time in the past 50 years. Globally, the wealthiest <a href=\"https://www.credit-suisse.com/corporate/en/articles/news-and-expertise/global-wealth-report-2017-201711.html\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">1 percent</a> of the population owns 50.1 percent of the world's wealth.</p>"

<h2>Yet inequalities remain</h2><p>The <a href="http://www.oecd.org/social/inequality.htm" target="_blank">OECD</a> has found that wealth inequality in affiliated countries is higher now than at any time in the past 50 years. Globally, the wealthiest <a href="https://www.credit-suisse.com/corporate/en/articles/news-and-expertise/global-wealth-report-2017-201711.html" target="_blank">1 percent</a> of the population owns 50.1 percent of the world's wealth.</p>

"<p>Based on World Economic Forum's <a href=\"http://reports.weforum.org/global-gender-gap-report-2016/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Gender Gap report</a>, on average women are a third worse off than men in a measure of gender disparity that covers access to education, economic returns, health, and political empowerment. Most countries have closed the health and education gap by over 95 percent but have only closed the political gap by 23 percent and the economic gap by 59 percent.</p>"

<p>Based on World Economic Forum's <a href="http://reports.weforum.org/global-gender-gap-report-2016/" target="_blank">Gender Gap report</a>, on average women are a third worse off than men in a measure of gender disparity that covers access to education, economic returns, health, and political empowerment. Most countries have closed the health and education gap by over 95 percent but have only closed the political gap by 23 percent and the economic gap by 59 percent. </p>

"<p>Democratic and free governments have been correlated with less violence, but a recent report by <a href=\"https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/freedom-world-2018\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color: rgb(44, 117, 176);\">Freedom House</a> has found that political rights and civil liberties in the world have been declining for the last 12 years, and in 2017 citizens in 71 countries saw a decline in their freedom.</p><p><br></p><p>Effective governments can promote human development by ensuring fair access to public services and by implementing policies to maintain citizen health and safety. People around the world are losing faith in their governments. A recent survey found that <a href=\"http://shaperssurvey.org/static/data/WEF_GSC_Annual_Survey_2017.pdf\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(44, 117, 176);\">51.8 percent</a> of young people distrust their national government.</p>"

<p>Democratic and free governments have been correlated with less violence, but a recent report by <a href="https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/freedom-world-2018" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(44, 117, 176);">Freedom House</a> has found that political rights and civil liberties in the world have been declining for the last 12 years, and in 2017 citizens in 71 countries saw a decline in their freedom.</p><p><br></p><p>Effective governments can promote human development by ensuring fair access to public services and by implementing policies to maintain citizen health and safety. People around the world are losing faith in their governments. A recent survey found that <a href="http://shaperssurvey.org/static/data/WEF_GSC_Annual_Survey_2017.pdf" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(44, 117, 176); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">51.8 percent</a> of young people distrust their national government.</p>

<h1>Preventing Violence Is a Critical Challenge</h1>

"<p>Although living conditions are improving, conflicts drastically undermine all development in terms of human services, freedom, and health. Conservative estimates by the Institute for Economics and Peace estimate that the total economic impact of violence to the world economy in 2015 was <a href=\"http://economicsandpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/The-Economic-Value-of-Peace-2016-WEB.pdf\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color: rgb(44, 117, 176);\">13.3 percent</a> of world GDP, or <span style=\"color: rgb(20, 20, 20);\">$13.6 trillion</span>.</p>"

<p>Although living conditions are improving, conflicts drastically undermine all development in terms of human services, freedom, and health. Conservative estimates by the Institute for Economics and Peace estimate that the total economic impact of violence to the world economy in 2015 was <a href="http://economicsandpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/The-Economic-Value-of-Peace-2016-WEB.pdf" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(44, 117, 176);">13.3 percent</a> of world GDP, or <span style="color: rgb(20, 20, 20);">$13.6 trillion</span>.</p>

"<p>According to the <a href=\"http://www.unhcr.org/en-us/figures-at-a-glance.html\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color: rgb(44, 117, 176);\">UN Refugee Agency</a>, as of 2017, there were 65.5 million forcefully displaced people around the world, with 55 percent coming from Syria, Afghanistan, and South Sudan. Many displaced people endure hazardous journeys to escape violence, famine, or other persecution, and many have <a href=\"https://missingmigrants.iom.int/about\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color: rgb(44, 117, 176);\">died</a> en route to safety. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees has a resettlement program for refugees who cannot return home, but in 2016, less than <a href=\"http://www.unhcr.org/en-us/resettlement.html\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color: rgb(44, 117, 176);\">1 percent</a> of refugees were resettled.</p>"

<p>According to the <a href="http://www.unhcr.org/en-us/figures-at-a-glance.html" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(44, 117, 176);">UN Refugee Agency</a>, as of 2017, there were 65.5 million forcefully displaced people around the world, with 55 percent coming from Syria, Afghanistan, and South Sudan. Many displaced people endure hazardous journeys to escape violence, famine, or other persecution, and many have <a href="https://missingmigrants.iom.int/about" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(44, 117, 176);">died</a> en route to safety. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees has a resettlement program for refugees who cannot return home, but in 2016, less than <a href="http://www.unhcr.org/en-us/resettlement.html" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(44, 117, 176);">1 percent</a> of refugees were resettled.</p>

<h1><span style="color: rgb(195, 45, 123);">Challenges Remain in Sustainable Development</span></h1>

<p>The goals for governments are clear: maintaining an environment that is healthy, safe, and provides economic opportunities for all. These goals come with challenges: the <span style="background-color: transparent;">imperatives </span>of limiting inequality and regional conflicts and adapting to a changing climate.</p>

Society

The percentage of the population living in extreme poverty is declining, and metrics of improved human well being are increasing. Efforts such as the Sustainable Development Goals, have set an agenda going forward, but urgent actions and good governance are still needed to achieve the goal of “ending poverty, protecting the planet and ensuring prosperity for all" by 2030. 

Resource Watch

Society

Data

Dashboards

Blog

About

Get Involved