This report provides an overview of demographic trends for the world, focusing on the major changes that have occurred over the past 20 years since the adoption of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development, held in Cairo in 1994. The report indicates that the world’s population reached 7.2 billion in 2014 and is expected to increase by more than 2 billion by 2050. Most of the future population growth will occur in the less developed regions. The populations of Africa and Asia will increase greatly in the coming decades. In contrast, a number of countries are expected to experience a decline in their population size, failing to meet the targets for life expectancy. The report concludes that the current state of the world’s population is one of unprecedented diversity and change, reflected in new patterns of fertility, mortality, migration, urbanization and ageing.