World Population Expected to Hit 11 Billion by 2100

Officials from the United Nations believe that the world population could hit 11 billion by 2100.

These estimates are based on the latest population projection on improved fertility forecasting methods, developed by the University of Washington's Center for Statistics and Social Sciences, and UN data collection.

UN officials said they believe the increase is primarily due to fertility in Africa, which was previously in decline throughout the 1990s.

This year's projection also includes longer life expectances based on technological and medical advances for women and men.

Africa's current population is about 1.1 billion and expected to reach as high as 4.2 by 2100, according to World Review.

Adrian Raftery, a University of Washington professor of statistics and of sociology, said in a press release, that the findings underscore the need to increase access to family planning and expand education for girls in Africa.

"These new findings show that we need to renew policies, such as increasing access to family planning and expanding education for girls, to address rapid population growth in Africa," Raftery said, via the release.

However, other areas of the world are expecting fewer changes. Europe, for example, may see a small decline due to fertility continuing below replacement level.

Reports show that the UN displays both high and low variants for its projections, assuming that women have an average of half a child more or less than the best projection. This may leave a rather large uncertainty that coud be anywhere from 7 to 17 billion.

However, the UW research group developed probabilities of the future poplulation based on the latest advancement. "Our probability intervals are much tighter, ranging from 9 billion to 13 billion in 2100," Raftery said.

Global population reached 7 billion in 2011. It passed 6 billion in 1999.