The report presents findings from the 2018 revision of World Urbanization Prospects, which contains the latest estimates of the urban and rural populations or areas from 1950 to 2018 and projections to 2050, as well as estimates of population size from 1950 to 2018 and projections to 2030 for all urban agglomerations with 300,000 inhabitants or more in 2018. The world urban population is at an all-time high, and the share of urban dwellers, is projected to represent two thirds of the global population in 2050. Continued urbanization will bring new opportunities and challenges for sustainable development.
Three global econometric models produced the same conclusion: that the global economy is most likely to improve through fiscal expansion in Japan combined with fiscal contraction and monetary easing in the United States. The same models forecast a slowdown in 1988 and low growth in 1989/90 followed by US recovery in 1991-1992.