<br/>Today is world population day. The theme of the annual event this year is ‘Every One Counts’. The event seeks to raise awareness about global population issues. <br/><br/>AIR correspondent reports:<br/><br/>’The World population is estimated to be around 6.8 billion at the beginning of this month as against 5 billion in July 1987. At the current rate of growth in population, the number of people in the world is likely to reach 7 billion by October 2012, according to analysts. The population in India has increased more than three times from 350 million in 1947 to 1.15 billion in 2010. As per Report of the Working Group on Population Stabilization – 11th Five Year Plan (2007-2012), Indian population is expected to overtake that of China by the year 2030 and the country will be the largest in the world with an estimated population of around 1.53 billion. However,the good news is that ,the annual growth rate of population in India has fallen from 2.14 during the decade (1981-1991) to 1.93 during the decade (1991-2001), according to the population census data released by the Registrar General of India.Population projections upto the year 2026 were done by a Technical Group constituted by the National Commission on Population and according to these estimates, the population of India in 2026 is expected to be around 1.40 billion. ‘<br/><br/>The event, established by the United Nations Development Programme in 1989, seeks an increased public awareness of population issues like importance of family planning, gender equality, poverty, maternal health, sexual and reproductive health, and human rights which have a serious impact on the world’s development and environment.