Demographic trends are part of the sociocultural aspect of the societal environment. Even though the world’s population is growing from 3.71 billion people in 1970 to 6.82 billion in 2010 to 8.72 billion by 2040, not all regions will grow equally. Most of the growth will be in the developing nations. The population of the developed nations will fall from 14% of the total world population in 2000 to only 10% in 2050.18 Around 75% of the world will live in a city by 2050 compared to little more than half in 2008.19 Developing nations will continue to have more young than old people, but it will be the reverse in the industrialized nations. For example, the demographic bulge in the U.S. population caused by the baby boom in the 1950s continues to affect market demand in many industries. This group of 77 million people now in their 50s and 60s is the largest age group in all developed countries, especially in Europe. (See Table 4–2.) Although the median age in the United States will rise from 35 in 2000 to 40 by 2050, it will increase from 40 to 47 during the same time period in Germany, and it will increase up to 50 in Italy as soon as 2025.20 By 2050, one in three Italians will be over 65, nearly