Millennials set to be outnumbered by Gen Z within a year

A new report claims that Gen Z will account for 32 per cent of the global population by 2019

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Millennials may soon be outnumbered by their successors: Generation Z.

According to new analysis by Bloomberg of United Nations data, Gen Z will account for 32 per cent of the global population in 2019.

This will put them ahead of millennials, which the report defines as those born between 1980 and 2000, who it suggests will comprise 31.5 per cent of the population of 7.7 billion.

For Bloomberg's report, Gen Z can be used to classify anyone born from 2001 until the next "meaningful cohort" emerges.

According to a 2015 report entitled Rise of Gen Z: New Challenge for Retailers by Marcie Merriman, executive director at Ernst & Young LLP, millennials are more self-centred than their younger counterparts, who are comparatively more self-aware.

In the report, Merriman writes that “the younger people placed a greater emphasis on their role in the world as part of a larger ecosystem and their responsibility to help improve it,” while millennials - “the older ones” - are more preoccupied by selfish desires.

The reports compares the two generations, describing millennials as “entitled”, “idealist”, “creative” and “dependent” and labelling Gen Z as “realist”, “innovative” and “self-reliant”.

It’s not the first time millennials have suffered a bout of bad press - and it most certainly won't be the last.

A study carried out by Deloitte earlier this year claimed that millennials are professionally disloyal, with nearly half of the 10,455 surveyed saying they plan to leave a job within two years.

Meanwhile, just 28 per cent said they had plans to stay in a role beyond five years.

What they lack in professional commitment, they make up for in lethargy, according to an additional study of of 2,000 adults which found that millennials favour online shopping because “it’s easier than going to the store.”

With all of the negative PR surrounding millennials, it’s no surprise that six out of 10 of them claim to be going through a “quarter-life” crisis, as revealed in a study carried out by First Direct bank and psychologist Dr Oliver Robinson in March.

The analysis of 2,000 British adults found that millennials were predominantly struggling due to financial difficulties in addition to managing pressures such as finding the right job, getting on the property ladder and being in the right relationship.

It’s only a matter of time until a new report claims that millennials are battling severe insecurities due to being surpassed by the younger generation.