KARACHI: Population size, growth rate, and its composition play an important role in the social and economic development of a country.
Demographic statistics of a country are essential for drafting the plans, framework of economic policies and judging the growth and development. Pakistan is among those developing countries where population growth is fairly high.
According to new Pakistan Economic Survey 2013-14, at present it is the sixth most populous country in the world with projected population of 188 million. According to World Population Data Sheet 2013, Pakistan with population of 363 million in 2050 is expected to retain the same position.
The population growth rate in Pakistan is 1.95 percent, which is higher than average growth rate of South Asian countries. The major cause behind higher growth rate is a high fertility rate.
Although over time various governments have been trying to tackle the issues of high population growth rate through introducing different programmes like Family Welfare Centres (FWC), Reproductive Health Services Centres (RHS-A), Regional Training Institutes and Mobile Services Unit. INTERNEWS
