The world has reached a somewhat worrying demographic milestone. The U.S. Census Bureau said  Thursday that the population  our planet has surpassed 8 billion. A spokesperson said the bureau estimated that the global population exceeded 8 billion  the 26th of September. However, he said this was a very rough guess and the precise day could be a month or two either side  this date. The Bureau declared that the world population would continue to grow  a steady rate. It has grown  6 billion  8 billion in the past two decades. The number  Earth's inhabitants had doubled  1960 and 2000. The rate  growth is slowing as birth rates are falling in many nations.
The Census Bureau attributed the slowdown  population growth to trends  longer lifespans and lower fertility rates. However, it forecast that the population would reach 10.2 billion  2060. It said: "The world population is projected to keep growing despite declining fertility rates. In fact, we estimate the number  infants already peaked in 2017. Instead, population growth  the future will come  larger groups of people  adult ages." It added: "Population growth is the result  fertility, mortality, migration and the share  the population  certain ages.…Nearly three quarters (74 per cent)  the earth's population reside in countries where fertility is around or below the replacement level."