Global population 2022: Symbolic '8 billionth baby' born in Manila

Vinice Mabansag is being considered as the symbolic eight billionth person in the world. (Image credit: POP-NCR)

On Tuesday, as the global population touched 8 billion, a girl born in Manila is being considered as the symbolic eight billionth person in the world.

Vinice Mabansag was born at Dr Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital at 1.29 am (local time) and ever since, photos of the baby have gone viral.

Meanwhile, the United Nations have called this a milestone in human development.

"The milestone is an occasion to celebrate diversity and advancements while considering humanity's shared responsibility for the planet," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement.

The UN attributes the growth to human development, with people living longer thanks to improvements in public health, nutrition, personal hygiene and medicine.

It is also the result of higher fertility rates, particularly in the world's poorest countries -- most of which are in sub-Saharan Africa -- putting their development goals at risk.

Read more: In Pics | A look at how world population has grown since 1950

In current world population 2022, the two most populous regions were both in Asia: Eastern and South-Eastern Asia with 2.3 billion people and Central and Southern Asia with 2.1 billion. China and India, with more than 1.4 billion each, accounted for most of the population in these two regions.

It is also projected that India is projected to surpass China as the world's most populous country during 2023.

The current population is more than three times higher than the 2.5 billion global headcount in 1950.

However, after a peak in the early 1960s, the world's population growth rate has decelerated dramatically, Rachel Snow of the UN Population Fund told AFP.

Annual growth has fallen from a high of 2.1 percent between 1962 and 1965 to below 1 percent in 2020.

That could potentially fall further to around 0.5 percent by 2050 due to a continued decline in fertility rates, the United Nations projects.

The UN projects the population to continue growing to about 8.5 billion in 2030, 9.7 billion in 2050, and peaking around 10.4 billion in the 2080s.

(With inputs from AFP)

Read more: World population at 8 billion humans -- and still growing