World Population Day: What a Growing Population Means for Our Economy and Our Food Systems
Every year on 11 July, the world marks World Population Day. The date traces back to 1987, when the global population was estimated to have crossed five billion: a milestone that caught enough public attention for the United Nations to turn it into an annual moment of reflection. Nearly four decades on, we are past eight billion, and the questions the day raises have only grown more pressing.
Those questions are rarely about numbers alone. A larger population can strengthen a workforce and expand an economy, but who benefits, and at what cost to housing, services and the environment? More people need feeding, but is the challenge really one of quantity, or of how food is produced, distributed and made accessible and healthy? And why do the pressures associated with population growth fall so unevenly, both between countries and within them? These are not simply matters of how many of us there are, but of how we produce, consume and plan.
To mark the occasion, the Malta Chamber of Scientists asked researchers to reflect on two of these facets, drawing out both the local picture in Malta and the wider global one. Malta offers a particularly sharp case study: as one of the most densely populated countries in Europe, it feels many of these pressures earlier and more acutely than most. Sharing their perspectives on economics and food systems are Prof. Marie Briguglio and Dr Foteini Pavli, from the University of Malta.
Prof. Marie Briguglio
Population plays a major role in shaping economies, but it is not as simple as “more people means more economic activity”. A larger population can indeed strengthen the workforce, increase demand for goods and services, and support economic growth, but it can also place pressure on housing, infrastructure, healthcare, and the environment if growth occurs too quickly. Malta is a clear example of this. While rapid population growth has driven economic expansion, it has also raised concerns about overcrowding, affordability, and quality of life.
At the global level, growing populations are often associated with stronger pressures on natural resources, energy, and ecosystems. However, even here it is not so simple: Environmental pressures from population growth are not distributed evenly. In fact, it is a relatively small proportion of the world’s population—primarily those with the highest levels of income and consumption—that accounts for a disproportionately large share of resource use and environmental impacts. In short, the relationship between population and economies depends on how many people there are to produce and consume, but also on what and how they produce and consume. This, in turn, is shaped by both market factors and government intervention (or lack thereof).
Dr Foteini Pavli
The demand for safe, nutritious and affordable food is increasing, since the world population is growing. At the same time we are experiencing disruptions in food supply changes especially in conflicting areas of the world, whilst also producing high amounts of food waste, facing the impact of climate change and having limited natural resources for food production. Food insecurity remains a challenge in some parts of the world, while in other regions, diets are often high in processed foods and low in essential nutrients. Such challenges highlight the urgent need for strengthening resilience of food systems and act towards more sustainable options.
Food supply in Malta faces additional challenges given our country’s limited agricultural land and the specific climatic and soil conditions, resulting in large amounts of food being imported. This scenario makes Malta more vulnerable to disruptions in the supply chain and the global food markets. At the same time, increasing rates of people living with obesity remain important public health concerns. Promoting local food production, where possible, minimising food waste and encouraging more healthy and sustainable eating patterns are important steps towards improving food security in the Maltese context.
