A new study from the United Nations indicated the world's population could double by the end of the century.

According to The Washington Post, the new study comes from the U.N. Department of Economic and Social Affairs that estimated a population increase 52 percent more than current estimates by the year 2100. Census data puts the current global population just under 7.5 billion, with the total projected to reach 11.2 billion over the next 85 years.

John R. Wilmoth and his colleagues presented their findings at the 2015 Joint Statistical Meetings in Seattle, Wash.

"Wilmoth told the audience that according to models of demographic change derived from historical experience, it is estimated the global population will be between 9.5 and 13.3 billion people in 2100," read a press release describing the study. "In the United States, the population is projected to add 1.5 million people per year on average until the end of the century, pushing the current count of 322 million people to 450 million."

As The Post pointed out, the projections should be treated as just that, allowing for a 23 percent chance the global population could remain about the same or decline by 2100. The U.N. also predicted 11 countries would see a population decline over that period. They are: Lithuania, Hungary, Japan, Latvia, Croatia, Serbia, Ukraine, Romania, Bosnia, Bulgaria, and the Republic of Moldova.

"These results have important policy implications for national governments," read the report, according to Discovery News. "Rapid population growth in high-fertility countries can exacerbate a range of existing problems: environmental (resource scarcity and pollution), health (maternal and child mortality), economic (unemployment, low wages and poverty), governmental (lagging investments in health, education and infrastructure) and social (political unrest and crime)."