The United Nations estimates that the global population has reached the 8 billion mark.

According to its medium-growth scenario, another 500 million people will be added to the global total by the end of the decade.

The UN also estimates that India’s population has now surpassed China’s to become the largest in the world.

This growth has many implications, including a larger market for Alberta’s exports and even more opportunities to connect with other people and places around the world.

Opportunities to provide the growing global community with food, energy, and a wide range of other products and services abound and bode well for our economic future.

It also puts into context our small, but mighty, population relative to the global total.

At about 4.5 million people in Alberta (as of July 1, 2022) and 38.9 million in Canada, we are home to just 0.06% and 0.49% of the global population, respectively.

At the same time, the future direction of global trade is uncertain due to tensions with China, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and calls for more “friend-shoring” and regional trading blocs.

That is not meant to pour cold water on the opportunities for Alberta and Canada out there in the global economy.

It is meant, rather, to highlight that seizing those opportunities will take forethought and a willingness to engage with the wider world in ways that improve both our economic prospects and those of our trading partners.

Answer to the previous trivia question: According to the North American Industry Classification System used by Statistics Canada, sawmills are part of the manufacturing sector rather than the forestry sector.

Today’s trivia question: The median age of the global population in 1950 was about 22 years. What is it today?