ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) - World Population Day is being observed today (Saturday) across the world including Pakistan to focus attention on the urgency and importance of population issues.
This year, 2026, the World Population Day theme is "Realizing the hopes and aspirations of young people – today and for the future”. This theme highlights the need to empower today’s youth to make informed choices about their health, education, and families, so they can shape a fair and hopeful future and support sustainable population growth.
World Population Day is an annual international observance held on July 11 to raise awareness about global population challenges, including maternal health, poverty, human rights, and sustainable development.
The day came into existence when the world population reached 5 billion in 1987, intending to address the public interest and educate the people about the population issues like benefits of family planning, gender equality, poverty, maternal health, human rights.
The global population has now surpassed 8 billion, and it’s expected to reach 9 billion by 2037.
To make sure the needs of individuals are addressed accordingly, policymakers should gain awareness on how many people live on the planet and what they represent. World Population Day is seen as both a moment of reflection and a call to action to stimulate the conversation and ignite progress.