Skip to main content

Population issues remain an important priority for many Governments in the Asian and Pacific region. While some countries have made encouraging progress in reducing fertility during the past decade, most continue to grapple with tasks of staggering proportions.

The current population of the region exceeds 2,700 million people, and the period between now and the year 2025 is one of maximum population growth, threatening considerable instability. Already some effects of rapid population growth and imbalanced development can be seen in the emergence of “mega-cities” of unprecedented size in the history of mankind. Besides such new problems, most developing countries in this region are still seeking solutions to stubborn socio-economic problems of long standing. Every gain in gross national product, for example, can be offset by a growing population, thus reducing the quality oflife for millions of people.

The establishment of family planning programmes alone is not enough to arrest these trends nor improve the quality of people’s lives. Through ESCAP’s work in this field, we know that population trends influence and are influenced by many development factors. Our work, therefore, is aimed at helping countries in the region to integrate population policies and programmes with their development planning in order to bring about more balanced development.

Asia-Pacific Population Journal Volume 1 was released in 1986.

  • Volume 1 No. 1
  • Volume 1 No. 2
  • Volume 1 No. 3
  • Volume 1 No. 4
Contact
Social Development Division +66 2288 1234 [email protected]