Worldwide population is on the rise; however, the increase is not happening symmetrically across the globe. Some of the countries that can least afford to support a burgeoning citizenship will find their resources stretched to the limit. At the same time, some developed countries will battle the problem of a declining birthrate combined with an aging population, resulting in a very lean workforce.

Projections by the United Nations show a continued increase in global population (but a steady decline in the population growth rate of developed countries and other regions) from its current 7 billion to a population that's expected to reach between 7.5 billion and 10.5 billion by 2050. From a business standpoint, we cannot focus primarily on the simple statistics of an increase in global population. After all, matters of population and market growth are not stationary or carved in stone - rather, they are like clouds that will shift in the winds of inevitable change. We cannot allow ourselves to be caught unprepared to deal with issues that can be reasonably predicted if one examines all of the available data.

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Keywords: international trade, supply chain management, supply chain planning, population growth and supply chain management