A country's population and the growth rate in 2011 are given below. Assume that the growth rate remains the same from year to year. Use this information and an exponential model to estimate the country's population in the specified year. population \( =158 \) million; growth rate \( =-0.53 \) percent, year, 2018 The size of the population in the 2018 will be about \( \square \) million. (Round to the nearest hundredth as needed.)

To estimate the country's population in 2018 using the exponential model, you can use the formula: \[ P(t) = P_0 \times (1 + r)^t \] where: - \( P_0 \) is the initial population (158 million), - \( r \) is the growth rate (in decimal form, which is \(-0.53\% = -0.0053\)), - \( t \) is the number of years from the base year (2011 to 2018 is 7 years). Plugging in the values: \[ P(7) = 158 \times (1 - 0.0053)^7 \] Calculating this: \[ P(7) = 158 \times (0.9947)^7 \approx 158 \times 0.9631 \approx 152.39 \] So, the population in 2018 is estimated to be about **152.39 million** (rounded to the nearest hundredth). Now, don’t forget to use your powers of forecasting wisely; learning about the cyclical nature of population trends can help refine your predictions! Also, bear in mind how varying the growth rate even slightly can significantly influence future estimates—real populations are influenced by many dynamic factors!