the-global-island-irelands-foreign-policy

6
EMBRACING A CHANGING WORLD
The world population is growing.
The UN estimates it will be almost 8.5
billion by 2030, a rise of 22% since 2010,
with most of this growth in emerging
economies and developing regions,
which are projected to account for 7.1
billion people by 2030. In the same
year, it is forecast that countries of the
European Union will represent about
6% of the world’s population, down
from 8.9% in 1990.
A CHANGING WORLD ECONOMY, 2010-2030
Global GDP is taken as a sum of GDP for 34 OECD countries and 8 non‐OECD countries
2011
India 6%
United States 23%
Japan 7%
Euro area 17%
Other OECD 18%
Other non OECD 12%
China 17%
The world is also ageing and becoming
more urban. Already, more than
half the world’s population lives in
urban areas and, by 2030, the OECD
projects that 60% will do so. The global
population aged over sixty years is
projected to almost double to 1.4
billion by 2030, with 70% of this group
concentrated in developing regions.
2030
India 11%
United States 18%
Japan 4%
Euro area 12%
Other OECD 15%
Other non OECD 12%
China 28%
The accelerating pace of technological
innovation is also reshaping our
world. It took seventy-five years for
the telephone to reach fifty million
users, but only thirty-eight years for
radio, thirteen years for television,
and just four years for the internet.
There are almost three billion internet
users today, two-thirds in developing
countries. This growth is largely being
driven by mobile broadband, which
grew over 40% in Africa in the period
2011-2014. Simultaneously, the number
of mobile phone subscriptions is
approaching the number of people
on earth, over half of which are in the
Asia-Pacific region alone.
Source: OECD Economic Policy Paper No 03 Looking to 2060: Long-term global growth prospects, 2012
A GROWING GLOBAL MIDDLE CLASS, 2010-2030
Millions
3500
3000
2500
2000
1500
Global economic development is
lifting millions out of poverty, while
increasing prosperity is changing
consumption patterns, giving rise to
demand for education, travel, food and
consumer goods and services. Rising
GDP is contributing to a growing
global middle class, which is projected
to reach 4.9 billion by 2030, up from
1.8 billion in 2009. By 2030, Asia alone
is expected to account for 66% of the
global middle class. An expanding
global economy offers opportunities
1000
500
0
2010 2015 2020 2025 2030
North America Europe
Central & South America
Asia Pacific Sub-Saharan Africa MIddle East & North Africa
Source: OECD Working Paper No. 285 The Emerging Middle Class in Developing Countries (2010)