Increasing population

Most people understand the importance of birth control but few practise it. This is true for Pakistan and for most developing countries. These countries are overcrowded. Now the UN has predicted further increase in population of nine countries, including Pakistan. According to the World Population Prospects 2019 released by the UN Population Division, Pakistan will be among these countries where more than half of the projected increase will be concentrated. The world’s population is expected to increase from the present 7.7 billion to 9.7 billion by 2050.

Between now and 2050, the other eight countries that will make up more than half the projected growth of the global population are India, Nigeria, Congo, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Indonesia, Egypt, and the US. By 2027, India is projected to surpass China as the world’s most populous country. By 2050, India would have 1.5 billion inhabitants, followed by China with slightly under 1.1 billion, and Pakistan with 403 million people. The projected increase in population would occur even if the birth rate in high-fertility countries were to decline immediately to around two births per woman. The number of births would exceed the number of deaths for several decades, so the world’s population would continue to grow. In 2050, it is expected that slightly less than 30% of the world’s population will live in intermediate-fertility countries. This includes some regions of Pakistan. In 2019, 40% of the world’s population lives in intermediate-fertility countries, where women have on an average between 2.1 and four births.

Considering the resource crunch in Pakistan, the UN report is a wake-up call. The birth rate in Pakistan is 3.48 per woman. In European countries, it is 2.1. We should keep in view the fact that the progress we make is considerably nullified by the increasing population. We should have a population that our resources can support.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 20^th, 2019.

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