Population in 15 years 6.1 billion

Press, 15 May 1985, Page 30

Population in 15 years 6.1 billion

NZPA-ReuterUnited Nations The world’s population by the end of this century will be close to 6.1 billion, of which almost 80 per cent will be living in developing countries, according to a United Nations report. With global population now estimated about 4.8 billion, it said the population growth rate was expected to decline more slowly than in the last 15 years unless Government population policies changed significantly. But in spite of the predicted declining growth rate, the annual gain in the size of the world population was expected to increase from 79 million at present to 89 million by the years 1995-2000. It said the present rate of global population growth was estimated at 1.65 per cent a year, down from 2 per cent during the 19605. While declines occurred in both developed and developing countries, there were wide variations in regional and national trends. Although the annual growth rate declined in developing countries from 2.5 per cent during the period 1970-75 to 2 per cent in 1980-

85, this was heavily weighted by the drop in China in the same period from 2.4 per cent to 1.2 per cent. If China were excluded, the decline in the rate of growth among those countries would only be from 2.5 per cent to 2.4 per cent per year. Within the developing regions, Africa as a whole showed a growth rate of over 3 per cent during 198085 which is still rising, while Western Asia had a similarly high rate of 2.9 per cent, with no sign of significant change. Other South Asian regions and Latin America had growth rates of 2.1 and 2.4 per cent respectively during the period 1980-85 and had been declining for the last decade, the report said. Among 123 countries and territories in the developing world, 58 showed an increase in growth rates between 1970-75 and 1980-85, while 49 showed a decrease and 16 virtually no change. Among 33 developed nations, 25 experienced a decrease in their growth rate between 1970-75 and 1980-85, and six had no change.