Peter Kirkman, manager of the J P Morgan Global Consumer Trends fund, said that for this reason he favoured India over nations such as Japan and Italy where the population is decreasing.
"Japan is a good example of what you do not want as an investor ? an ageing, shrinking population," he said. "Negative population growth leads to negative GDP growth."
In an emerging market, the population grows not because more children are being born but because an increasing number of people are not dying.
"Emerging economies are focused on prolonging life because, if life expectancy is raised from 60 to 65, that is another five years' work from each member of the population, increasing productivity," added Mr Kirkman.
Because of this focus, he likes health care companies such as Novo Nordisk. He said: "We look to invest in companies where incidence of use will increase as people live longer."
Giles Marriage, a director of Thesis Asset Management, recommended a fund approach and picked investment trusts from Worldwide Healthcare and Polar Capital Global Healthcare.
As the global population increases, so does the demand on resources. While some will be strained ? it is already predicted that we will run out of fossil fuels in the next century ? production of others will rise to meet requirements.
"A rise in population coupled with the economic growth of these countries will have a considerable effect on commodities," said Adrian Lowcock of Bestinvest. "An improvement in living standards means an increased demand for more value-added products. Energy consumption is forecast to increase by 40pc over the next 20 years, with electricity demand forecast to rise by 76pc."
Bestinvest picked First State Global Resources to take advantage of this trend, and Hargreaves Lansdown liked mining fund BlackRock Gold & General.
Jacob de Tusch-Lec, fund manager of Artemis Global Income, said that while there would definitely be an increase in the demand for commodities, it could not become exponential.
If emerging market consumption of oil, for example, rose to the levels of the developed markets, there would be supply problems that would lead to price increases, inflation and even wars.
"The increased consumption of oil, copper and other commodities is intrinsically linked to population growth and construction," he said. "A Chinese child born today will use more oil in its lifetime than its parent ? the opposite trend to that in the West.
"But there will also be policies in place to ensure that commodities consumption is controlled. There will be a tug of war between this increased demand and the need to control supply."
To support increased demand for commodities, there will be an increased demand for infrastructure as more people can afford energy, cars and public transport.
Thesis recommends 3i Infrastructure, which has exposure to emerging markets, including India, and pays a 5pc yield.
It is not just energy and mining companies that will benefit from population growth ? so too will "soft" commodities in areas such as agriculture, farming and forestry. After all, the more people, the more mouths to feed, and there have been many scare stories of the world's food supply being drained.
As emerging markets get wealthier, the growing middle classes adapt their diets as well as their living arrangements. Chinese meat demand is expected to increase by 60pc in the 50 years to 2050, as traditional vegetable-based diets are supplemented with Western-style meat-based meals.
An increased demand for meat has a detrimental effect on water supply. If you have a purely grain-based diet, the amount of water that is required to produce an entire field of corn or wheat produces hundreds of meals. But that entire field will feed just one animal over its lifetime, and one cow provides at most a dozen meals.
Companies that develop GM technology will benefit too ? as crops are required to feed more, they will need to be more resistant to disease, faster growing and with larger yields, although there is an argument that with GM crops come GM super-weeds.
"As incomes rise, so does spending on food ? more meat, fish, cereals, dairy products, fruit, vegetable and palm oil. Year by year the demand increases as the average calorie intake per person rises," said Mr Marriage.
"To capture this trend, we recommend the Sarasin AgriSar fund for our clients. This fund invests across the food and agricultural value chain in companies leading the way in meeting demand growth: from farmers in the Black Earth region and North American fertiliser producers to global soft-commodity traders and African retailers."
Increased incomes lead to larger disposable incomes, and lifestyle changes as well as dietary ones. Currently, only 20pc of Chinese people use disposable nappies, but this is expected to increase as incomes rise. Equally, use of lavatory paper and basic toiletries is increasing in emerging markets.
Mr Kirkman tipped global companies Unilever and Nestl�, as well as two Chinese firms, Hengan, a nappy producer, and Vinda, a household paper manufacturer.
Visit Telegraph Investment Service for tailored investment information and advice.
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