Global population at 8.3 billion: What does that mean for anyone under 30? • FRANCE 24 English

With the world's population surpassing 8.3 billion people today, can we truly realize the hopes and dreams of the largest generation of young people ever? On World Population Day 2026, today the spotlight is on empowering youth to shape their futures through education, health and opportunity.

From family planning to sustainable development, this global observance asks a vital question, are we investing enough in tomorrow's leaders today? And that message brought by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, talking about matching the determination of young people with greater investments in education, sexual and reproductive health, decent work and real participation in decision making. For more, we're joined by Dianne Keita, Executive Director of the UN Populations Fund.

Thank you so much for joining us here from New York, Dianne. It's just a very curious day today, the World Populations Day. And I understand your organization, the UNFPA, you've conducted a global survey of more than 108,000 young adults across 73 countries.

And you found that most still aspire to partnership, to growing the population effectively and to have marriage and parenthood. But there's financial insecurity, there's unstable employment, there's housing challenges, uncertainty, which is preventing many of them from doing so. So what is the biggest risk for young people today in terms of growing the world's population?

And where do we stand at 8.3 billion people? Thank you so much for having me.

Where we stand today, the survey paints a picture of hope under pressure. And I think that's the most inspiring thing we have seen these years. Many young adults remain optimistic, even while insecurity, inequality and conflicts weigh heavily in the way they want to design their life and the future.

So that's why this population, we are at the inflection point where policymakers, decision makers really need to think of what they want for our joint future altogether. So what are those biggest hardships that are making these young people failing to realize their aspirations? First and foremost, financial security, stable work, employment is really a major issue, affordable housing and emotional readiness.

And that's going to be linked to insecurity and everything that is going around on the planet. It feels like we are the most stressed out generation. I speak from a younger person's perspective.

And what you're saying is it's not so much a fertility problem as such. It is down to the economics. It's down to the economics and it's down to the stability and emotional readiness.

Usually policymakers, they see what are their needs. They want most fertility, so they make sure that they put policy. But what the young people are saying to all, telling all of us, listen to us.

We want family, we want partnership, we want to have kids. Mainly, commonly, it's two per family. But listen, give us a minimum security in which we can live and we can really think about future generation.

So what kind of coercive targets are governments implementing to actually enable this or promote this kind of population growth? I mean, can you point to specific cases which have been success stories? Yes, success stories, you know, the survey concerns 73 countries.

So the 100,000 young people who have surveyed, they are from all continents. So the results are totally different from Europe and North Asia. That's more looking alike.

Contrary to Southeast Asia and Africa, that looks alike as well. And you put into that values, cultural aspect. So but 81 percent financial security is what matters most.

That's really, really important. Immediate followed by affordable housing. And where are we seeing this basically take shape the best?

I mean, if we just look at the African continent, we've got a massive youth population around Europe and East Asia. We've got a rapidly aging population. So how do we find that balance and the risks involved?

And that's exactly I think you are nailing down what matters most. It's not about finding the balance. It's about making the right policy that are absolutely geographically based to respond to the needs of the region we are working in.

If you take, let me take West Africa, security is very much important. Decent work is very much important as well. For if you take Europe or Northern Asia, the care economy is absolutely critical.

Affordable housing is becoming absolutely essential. So this survey allow us to start analyzing what is going around in the world and work. This is our work at the United Nations Population Fund with government policymakers and adapt their policy into what the young people want for their future generations.

And we've heard a different rhetoric from governments across the world in terms of those populations and the changes in demographics. We sometimes get some right wing voices saying that population decline around Europe is the greatest threat facing the continent. What we don't talk about is how populations are rising in many places around the world as well, which could actually help circumvent those challenges if done correctly through the correct mechanisms.

So once again, I must ask you, how big of a challenge is population decline or rather how much we can benefit from population growth? You know, you know, it's not either or or they are both important in their own context. But policymakers, whether they are left wing or right wing or in the middle, they need to stop fixing birth rate.

Instead, they need to start fixing the conditions shaping young people's choices. That's where the problem lies around the world everywhere. So the government, where do we raise fertility?

Where do we lower fertility? No, young people are asking something that that is more immediate. Can I afford a home, keep a stable job, find a partner, share care fairly and raise a family without being overwhelmed?

And yet those fertility rates are the highest in sub-Saharan Africa, where the economic situation doesn't really reflect as much in terms of that affordable housing and what you say would promote that fertility. That's quite a juxtaposition there. Well, you're absolutely right.

And for most countries in sub-Saharan Africa, what is important as well, family planning is important. Services for sexual reproductive health and rights are important to ensure that women can have the baby they can afford to have in the best condition possible. Because that is important.

We need good health infrastructure, good education infrastructure to ensure that the conditions are met. Now, on that note, 800 women still die daily from preventable causes in pregnancy. Why has progress been so slow on that front?

That front, you know, they are still dying because the health system needs to be fixed. And really, government and policy makers need to take sexual relative health and rights very seriously and put it at the heart of every development policy program. That's the way life starts.

No woman should die while giving birth. And for that, you need access to service. You need access to contraception.

And you need access to good medical facilities. And midwives are important in that respect, just to give an example. That's an absolutely crucial aspect.

In terms of your organization, the UNFPA, what can you do right now to bridge that gap? That's, we work. First, I finish with the midwife.

We need one million more midwives around the world, everywhere. Second, we need to work with government on policy. That's why we launched this survey.

We are going to expand it. This is just the first step of it. And adapt and tailor it through linked to the region, linked to the country.

So that's what we do with them. And I think we are on a very, very good track. And I'm very pleased with this survey because it gives us hope and mainly gives us what to do and where to do it.

Now, let's just go back to the actual figure right now that we're sitting on. 8.3 billion people is an absolutely massive amount.

In fact, at the turn of the 20th century, there were only about 2.5 billion people at most. If we just look at that absolutely massive rise, surely there's another side to the coin which says, well, there are actually too many people in certain places and this needs spreading out or possibly just too many people at large.

But we don't want to feed into also some conspiracy theories here by saying that. Well, thank you for the question. You know, when we were created 60 years ago, it was about demography and anxiety because of a large number of people.

But we are much, much larger today and we have another anxiety today that's low fertility in some part of the world. Let me tell you, we work for people and for planet. We have enough space for the people on this planet today.

The way is the policy we put in place to ensure that those people can live freely, safely on the planet. And that's really on the hand of the policymakers. That's why us at the United Nations Population Fund, we help them design those policies and make sure that those policies have a macro perspective.

It's not only one sector, it's really everything. And you're right. We still have today women dying every day, even on this population day, unfortunately.

That's the human aspect very much on the ground. There's another aspect of this. In 2007, that was the first year where more people lived in urban areas than in rural areas around the world.

How much of a risk does that pose when the populations are set to surge as well? That's absolutely another very good question. Today, the urban are taking a lot of space.

So that's why when we work with young people as well, youth-led community organization is to see how they can impact in their own region, in their own environment. Because the urban centers are being bigger and bigger, with not enough space. And that's another story that is linked to demography.

But we work with other agencies as well to ensure that the housing, the space on the planet is being taken care of. So you talk about youth, and that is very much the focus of this year's World Population Day, where we heard from Antonio Guterres as well. If there was one big investment today, which could really help support young people's aspirations, what would you be promoting?

If there will be one thing, it will be to invest in the condition that helps people build their life and family they aspire to. So to listen to the population. That kind of service, to really listen and work on to that.

This is valid for developed countries in the Western world and Eastern world. But it's even more important as well in the Sub-Saharan, Africa and Southeast Asia and everywhere else. Avoid inequality.

If there was a figure that you could actually put on that in terms of the monetary value of that investment, how much would it be? If I had to put a figure, that figure depends. But we made a study a few years back.

I need today for the entire planet, I figure like, let's say, 200 billion for women not to stop dying while giving birth and make sure that young people have the right rise. And I'm hopeful because we have never had as much resources on this planet as well than currently. Simply not equally distributed.

And in terms of partners that you can seek to get that funding, I mean, who's come to the fore? Who's showing the biggest interest in actually making that dream a reality? You know, member state has been fantastic.

We have received a lot of results from member state, but we work with private sector. We work infinitely with private sector, with foundation to ensure that we can cover up. And we are making with international banks as well, creating international financial mechanism where we can mobilize money.

That can create more money and ensure that they can help the countries and government to do the job that they need to do. Diane Keita, so many important messages there. Thank you so much for sharing them all with us there from the UN Populations Fund here on the World Population Day, the 11th of July.

That's Diane Keita here on the World Roundup Show.