ID :
56675
Tue, 04/21/2009 - 16:45
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/56675
The shortlink copeid
ASIA PACIFIC POPULATION GROWING OLDER
By D. Arul Rajoo
BANGKOK, April 21 (Bernama) -- With fewer children being born and people
living longer, the population of the Asia Pacific region is steadily growing
older.
This is indicated by the region's annual population growth having fallen to
1.1 per cent since 2000, the lowest rate among the world's developing regions,
according to a United Nations (UN) report.
The Statistical Yearbook for Asia and the Pacific 2008, released by the UN
Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (Escap) today, showed
that death rates in the region continued to dip.
However, birth rates have come down even more rapidly as families are having
fewer children.
Across the region, the number of children born per woman fell to 2.4 for the
period 2000-2005, down from 2.9 per woman for the previous five years.
"We are familiar with population ageing in countries like Japan, but the
same phenomenon is now evident in many countries. Once the total fertility rate
falls below the replacement rate of 2.1, we can expect the region's population
to start shrinking," said Dr Noeleen Heyzer, Unescap Executive Secretary.
The report said that fertility fell below replacement level in 16 countries,
including China, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand, adding that in some
countries such as Niue, Georgia, Armenia and the Russian Federation, the
population was already falling.
A number of countries still have fertility rates above 3.0 children per
woman, among them Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Laos, Nepal,
Pakistan, the Philippines, Tajikistan and Timor-Leste.
In many countries, the effects of falling birth rates are being reinforced
by emigration, and in Asia and the Pacific as a whole, 1.2 per cent of the
population, or 50 million people, are foreign born.
The countries losing the highest proportions of their populations are
generally small island states in the Pacific where emigration rates can be 15
per cent of the population or more.
Migrants from these and other countries are heading to the region's richer
economies and they now make up more than 40 per cent of the populations of
Singapore and Hong Kong. Australia, too, has many people who are foreign
born, accounting for more than 20 per cent of its population.
Unescap said migrants also go further afield, 1.3 million people a year over
the period 2000-2005, primarily to the Middle East, Europe and North America,
although they are beginning to return due to the economic crisis.
Besides the economic crisis affecting the region, the Yearbook also pointed
out that in recent years, nature too, has delivered some terrible blows, citing
January to September, last year, where 28 disasters caused by natural hazards
such as earthquakes, floods and typhoons affected more than 101 million
people, killed more than 223,000, and caused economic damage estimated at more
than US$103 billion.
The report also warned that many countries are now facing greater water
stress, citing Singapore and the Maldives as countries already in severe water
stress, as well as India, Korea and Pakistan, which have per capita renewable
water resources of less than 1,700 cubic metres per year.
-- BERNAMA
BANGKOK, April 21 (Bernama) -- With fewer children being born and people
living longer, the population of the Asia Pacific region is steadily growing
older.
This is indicated by the region's annual population growth having fallen to
1.1 per cent since 2000, the lowest rate among the world's developing regions,
according to a United Nations (UN) report.
The Statistical Yearbook for Asia and the Pacific 2008, released by the UN
Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (Escap) today, showed
that death rates in the region continued to dip.
However, birth rates have come down even more rapidly as families are having
fewer children.
Across the region, the number of children born per woman fell to 2.4 for the
period 2000-2005, down from 2.9 per woman for the previous five years.
"We are familiar with population ageing in countries like Japan, but the
same phenomenon is now evident in many countries. Once the total fertility rate
falls below the replacement rate of 2.1, we can expect the region's population
to start shrinking," said Dr Noeleen Heyzer, Unescap Executive Secretary.
The report said that fertility fell below replacement level in 16 countries,
including China, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand, adding that in some
countries such as Niue, Georgia, Armenia and the Russian Federation, the
population was already falling.
A number of countries still have fertility rates above 3.0 children per
woman, among them Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Laos, Nepal,
Pakistan, the Philippines, Tajikistan and Timor-Leste.
In many countries, the effects of falling birth rates are being reinforced
by emigration, and in Asia and the Pacific as a whole, 1.2 per cent of the
population, or 50 million people, are foreign born.
The countries losing the highest proportions of their populations are
generally small island states in the Pacific where emigration rates can be 15
per cent of the population or more.
Migrants from these and other countries are heading to the region's richer
economies and they now make up more than 40 per cent of the populations of
Singapore and Hong Kong. Australia, too, has many people who are foreign
born, accounting for more than 20 per cent of its population.
Unescap said migrants also go further afield, 1.3 million people a year over
the period 2000-2005, primarily to the Middle East, Europe and North America,
although they are beginning to return due to the economic crisis.
Besides the economic crisis affecting the region, the Yearbook also pointed
out that in recent years, nature too, has delivered some terrible blows, citing
January to September, last year, where 28 disasters caused by natural hazards
such as earthquakes, floods and typhoons affected more than 101 million
people, killed more than 223,000, and caused economic damage estimated at more
than US$103 billion.
The report also warned that many countries are now facing greater water
stress, citing Singapore and the Maldives as countries already in severe water
stress, as well as India, Korea and Pakistan, which have per capita renewable
water resources of less than 1,700 cubic metres per year.
-- BERNAMA
