Pakistan’s high population growth worrisome

Pakistan is sitting on a ticking population bomb as the country’s total inhabitants has reached 220.9 million, as the average children from each couple in the country is around 3.6 per annum, says a population report released by the US Population Welfare Bureau, Washington. 

This trend is extremely worrying for the resource-starved country which is already struggling with a major chunk of population living under the poverty line. Moreover, half of the country still lacks access to clean water and sanitation whereas the rising population could further stress the country’s existing natural resources.

The report also points out South Asia as one of the fastest population growth regions in the world as almost half of the world’s population lives in the three countries — Pakistan, Bangladesh and India whereas the rates of population growth in Afghanistan and Pakistan is alarmingly high. 

The US report says that in 2020, Bangladesh’s population is estimated at around 169.8m with a growth rate of 2.3pc.

Given Pakistan’s population growth rate of 3.6 percent, the country’s population will double to 440 million in 20 years. Meanwhile, the bureau recommended Pakistan to bring down the growth rate to  2 percent to control the population. 

The bureau also estimated that the world is currently home to around 7.9 billion people. Highlighting the risks of high population and rising density of residents in the world’s urban cities, the spread of infectious disease will always remain the top threat. 

Citing the case of coronavirus, the report said the major impact of the Covid-19 has been in the urban areas as the rural ones with less population density per square foot remains somewhat insulated. 

The report said the rising global population trend in the country is extremely worrying and needs to be brought under control as the earth’s resources and habitats have already been stretched to a limit.