UN says reduced population peak is a "hopeful sign" despite looming collapse

The United Nations has claimed that predictions of population reduction offer a “hopeful sign” for the planet, without addressing the expected full-blown population collapse from which some demographers say the world will not recover.

According to The Guardian, new U.N. projections estimate that the world’s population will peak earlier and at a lower number than expected — 10.2 billion, which is 6 percent less than that expected a decade ago — giving U.N. officials “hope of reduced pressure on the environment.”

More than half of the world’s countries now have fertility rates at below replacement level, including the U.S., the U.K., and Australia, with “nearly a fifth” of countries at an “ultra-low” fertility rate of under 1.4 births a woman, according to the U.N. The current world fertility rate is 2.27 births per woman, fast approaching below-replacement fertility .