FACT-CHECK: Did UN Report Claim that there were More Women than Men in the World

CLAIM

There have been several reports since 2019 claiming that there are more women than men in the world population. Most of the reports quoted Daily Independent, a newspaper in Nigeria as the source of the information which also attributed it to the United Nations (UN).

VERDICT

An investigation by PRNigeria reveals that the World Population Prospects 2019 which was published by the Population Division of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, provides a comprehensive overview of global demographic patterns and prospects which did not project the claim that there were more women than men in the world. The claim is therefore FALSE.

FULL TEXT

The Daily Independent on April 29, 2019, published a report on its website titled: “BREAKING: UN publishes 1st quarter Demography Report 2019.”

The newspaper reported that: “There are 7.8Billion people on planet earth. The report shows: Women = 5.6Billion, Men = 2.2Billion

“So, they advised women to be careful in showing attitudes to any man because out of the 2.2 Billion men: One billion are married already; 130 million are in prison; 70 million are mentally ill.

“That means that we have just about 1 billion men available for marriage and out of the 1billion: 50% are jobless, 3% are gay 5% are Catholic Priests, 10% are your relatives, 35% are above 66years,

“So, ladies both the married and singles, you have to rethink before treating any man like trash. For details visit the UN demography report.”

INVESTIGATION

A diligent search by PRNigeria on websites relating to agencies of the United Nations (UN) could not find any publication on the claim.

UN POSITION

The World Population Prospects 2019: Highlights, published by the Population Division of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, provides a comprehensive overview of global demographic patterns and prospects.

The document also obtained by PRNigeria shows that the world’s population continues to grow, albeit at a slower pace than at any time since 1950, owing to reduced levels of fertility. From an estimated 7.7 billion people worldwide in 2019, the medium-variant projection indicates that the global population could grow to around 8.5 billion in 2030,

Meanwhile, relying on the UN World Population Prospects, Statistics Times in its “World Sex Ration for 2019” shows that there were 3,889bn males against 3,824bn females which translates to 101.689 males per 100 females.

For 2021, it shows that there were 3.97 billion males, representing 50.42% and 3.905 billion females, representing 49.58% of the world population. The world therefore had 65.51 million more males than females.
CREDIBLE SOURCES

A further search by PRNigeria on credible sources of information on the world population, especially on the demography indicates that the gender or sex ratio between the number of males and females in a society is not stable but instead shaped by biological, social, technological, cultural, and economic forces.

According to demographers (https://ourworldindata.org/gender-ratio), the sex ratio at birth is not equal: in every country births are male-biased. There are biological reasons why there are slightly more boys born every year than girls. The ‘natural’ sex ratio at birth is around 105 boys per 100 girls (ranging from around 103 to 107 boys).

In some countries, the sex ratio at birth is much more skewed than would occur naturally where there is clear evidence of gender selection through prenatal sex determination and selective abortion.

In countries where there is a clear son preference, the sex ratio at birth becomes increasingly skewed with birth order (the third or fourth born children are more likely to be boys than the first or second child).

OLD AGE DEMOGRAPHY

Whereas the overall numbers of males and females globally are about equal, The report of UN Population in 2019 states that women outnumber men at older ages owing to their longer average life expectancy. In 2019, women comprise 55 per cent of those aged 65 years or over and 61 per cent of those aged 80 years or over globally.

That was also confirmed by UNFPA in its statistics on life expectancy at birth, years where it shows that in 2021 males reach 71 years on average while the female 75years

CONCLUSION

Based on documents obtained by PRNigeria and statistical analysis, the claim is not true in the context in which it was narrated.