Future Trends: Surprising Developments before 2030.

Adapted from: Guillen, M. F. (2020). 2030: How Today’s Biggest Trends Will Collide and Reshape the Future of Everything. St. Martin’s Press.

Next Industrial Revolution:

• Birthplace of the next industrial revolution: Sub-Saharan Africa
• The reason: 500 million acres of fertile yet undeveloped agricultural land. The total size of Mexico is 500 million acres.
• The population of sub-Saharan Africa was 1.1 billion in 2019. The current growth rate is 2.3%. The UN predicts for the region a population between 2 and 2.5 billion by 2050.
• Sub-Saharan African countries top the list of countries and territories by fertility rate with 40 of the highest 50, all with Total Fertility Rate (TFR) greater than 4 (children per woman) in 2008.
• More than 40% of the population in sub-Saharan countries is younger than 15 years old, with the exception of South Africa.

Women

• Percentage of the world’s wealth owned by women in 2000: 15
• Percentage of the world’s wealth owned by women in 2030: 55
• If Lehman Brothers had been Lehman Sisters: global financial crisis averted

Hunger and Obesity

• Worldwide, the number of people who went hungry in 2017: 821 million.
• Worldwide, the number of people who will go hungry in 2030: 200 million
• Worldwide, the number of people who were obese in 2017: 650 million.
• Worldwide, the number of people who will be obese in 2030: 1.1 billion.
• Percentage of Americans projected to be obese in 2030: 50

Cities

• Percentage of the world’s land occupied by cities in 2030: 1.1
• Percentage of the world’s population living in cities in 2030: 60
• Percentage of worldwide carbon emissions produced by cities in 2030: 87
• Percentage of world’s urban population exposed to rising sea levels in 2030: 80

Middle Class

• The largest middle-class consumer market today: United States and Western Europe.
• The largest middle-class consumer market in 2030: China
• By 2030, the number of people entering the middle class in emerging markets: 1 billion.
• The number of people currently in the middle class in the United States: 223 million
• The number of people in the middle class in the United States in 2030: 209 million