World population to officially reach 7 billion on Oct. 31

The world's population will officially hit seven billion on Monday, October 31 —  at least according to the State of World Population 2011, a report published by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

According to Agence France-Presse, population growth is accelerating. The global population is estimated to have reached a billion people by the year 1800, before hitting 2 billion in 1927. The 3 billion mark was reached by 1959, four billion by 1974, five billion by 1987, and six billion by 1999.

The world adds 80 million people to its population every year — about the same number of people who live in Germany or Ethiopia.

Experts say the world's population could reach 10 billion by 2050.

More from GlobalPost's global health blog: Family Planning and Seven Billion

People under the age of 25 comprise 43 per cent of the world's population, and life expectancy is climbing while infant mortality is declining, the UNFPA report says. 

According to Reuters:

Many demographers and long-term planners say the challenge for the next century will be less dealing with growing numbers of people and more managing the much larger population of aged and perhaps dependent people while finding new strategies to deliver prosperity, jobs and essential services.

Read the entire report, titled "People and Possibilities in a World of 7 Billion."