Publications

Population Prospects of Countries in Special Situations provides an up-to-date overview of current and future major population trends in the LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS in connection with the opportunities and challenges these trends present for achieving sustainable development. This report highlights levels and trends in population size and distribution, mortality, fertility and international migration, including projections to 2050, for the 110 vulnerable countries or territories, while also discussing the implications of population change for achieving specific Sustainable Development Goals.

Population ageing is an inevitable outcome of the demographic transition — the historic shift from higher to lower levels of fertility and mortality that yields a period of rapid population increase and, eventually, an older population that is much larger as a share of the total. While more developed countries have completed or are well advanced in this transition, less and least developed countries (LDCs) are predominantly in the early or middle stages, when the older population is still small but starting to grow. Such countries can anticipate a continuing, gradual increase in both the number and the share of older persons, many of whom will require substantial care and support at some…

The UN DESA Annual Highlights report is a tool to communicate the contributions of the Department to the realization of internationally agreed development goals and shared social, economic, and environmental aspirations. It showcases the Department’s role in gauging trends, building capacities, and shaping solutions. UN DESA Highlights 2022-2023 covers activities over the period of the 77th Session of the General Assembly (September 2022 – August 2023) and reflects the Department’s response to the set priorities and expressed needs of Member States. Seven (7) thematic chapters showcase how UN DESA put its expertise to the task of supporting Member State efforts to implement the 2030…

Contraception assists individuals and couples to achieve their reproductive goals and enables them to exercise the right to have children by choice. World Family Planning 2022 presents the latest trends and patterns in contraceptive use at the global, regional and national levels. The report assesses levels and trends in contraceptive use and needs of women of reproductive age between 1990 and 2021, including the proportion of women of reproductive age (aged 15-49 years) who have their need for family planning satisfied with modern methods of contraception (SDG indicator 3.7.1). The report also examines how contraceptive use and needs vary by women’s age and highlights gaps in meeting…

World Population Prospects 2022 is the twenty-seventh edition of the official United Nations population estimates and projections. It presents population estimates from 1950 to the present for 237 countries or areas, underpinned by analyses of historical demographic trends. This latest assessment considers the results of 1,758 national population censuses conducted between 1950 and 2022, as well as information from vital registration systems and from 2,890 nationally representative sample surveys. 

The 2022 revision also presents population projections to the year 2100 that reflect a range of plausible outcomes at the global, regional and national levels. For the first time,…

The World Population Policies 2021: Policies related to fertility, provides a brief overview of global fertility levels and trends since the early 1960s and explores government’s views and policies related to fertility. The analysis of views and policies draws on data gathered through 2019 and available in the World Population Policies Database, reflecting the situation before the outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The report then presents five case studies of countries from different regions and with a range of fertility levels, exploring in more detail the origin and evolution of national fertility policies. The case studies are followed by an assessment of…

Global Population Growth and Sustainable Development probes the linkages between global population growth and the social, economic and environmental dimensions of sustainable development. The report examines how the current rapid growth of the human population is a consequence of the demographic transition from high to low levels of mortality and fertility. The report reviews the connections between population growth and key aspects of social and economic development, including poverty, hunger and malnutrition, health, education, gender equality, economic growth and decent work. It also explores the contribution of global population increase to environmental degradation, including…

The World Population Policies 2021: Policies related to fertility, provides a brief overview of global fertility levels and trends since the early 1960s and explores government’s views and policies related to fertility. The analysis of views and policies draws on data gathered through 2019 and available in the World Population Policies Database, reflecting the situation before the outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The report then presents five case studies of countries from different regions and with a range of fertility levels, exploring in more detail the origin and evolution of national fertility policies. The case studies are followed by an assessment of…

COVID-19 has disrupted all forms of human mobility through the closing of national borders and halting of travel worldwide. Preliminary estimates suggest that the pandemic may have slowed the growth in the stock of international migrants by around two million by mid-2020, 27 per cent less than the growth expected since mid-2019, according to a report by the United Nations released today. 

Growth in the number of international migrants has been robust over the last two decades, reaching 281 million people living outside their country of origin in 2020, up from 173 million in 2000 and 221 million in 2010.  Currently, international migrants represent about 3.6 per cent of…

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and its socio-economic impacts have affected all countries in the world. In 2021, as the effects continue to reverberate across multiple sectors and are compounded by other complex threats, 42 governments recognized that this year was a crucial time to conduct a Voluntary National Review (VNR), in order to align their efforts toward a resilient recovery from the pandemic and to overcome setbacks to sustainable development. This sixth edition of the VNR Synthesis Report delivers an overview of the innovative approaches and actions taken by the 42 VNR countries that presented their progress and findings during the 2021 HLPF, which was held in a hybrid format…

Despite the sudden onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and its global impacts, 47 countries presented their Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) during the first virtual high-level political forum on sustainable development (HLPF) held under the auspices of the UN Economic and Social Council from 7 to 16 July 2020. Since 2016, when the first reviews were presented, a total of 168 countries have reported on their efforts to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). With the launch this year of the Decade of Action and Delivery for sustainable development, some countries reaffirmed their commitment to the principles of the 2030 Agenda and…

47 countries presented their Voluntary National Reviews (VNR) at the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) under the auspices of the UN Economic and Social Council, held in New York from 9 to 18 July 2019. Since 2016, when the first reviews were presented, a total of 142 countries have reported on their efforts to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

As in previous years, this report provides an overview of the approaches and actions taken by all countries reporting in 2019 and showcases best practices, lessons learned, gaps and challenges encountered in working towards the achievement of the…