Increasing at a rate of 1.1 per cent per annum, the total population of the Asian and Pacific region now stands at 3.9 billion and is expected to reach 4.7 billion in 2025. This is one of the findings highlighted in the recently published 2004 ESCAP Population Data Sheet.

The slowing of the population growth rate (from 1.6 per cent per annum in 1994 to 1.1 per cent in 2004) is mainly due to a sharp decline in the total fertility rate, from 3.1 children per woman in 1994 to 2.4 in 2004. The region has also witnessed a substantial reduction in the infant mortality rate, dropping to 51 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2004 from 60 per 1,000 live births a decade ago. There has been a corresponding rise in the expectation of life at birth, reaching now 66 years for males and 70 years for females.

Published by the Population and Social Integration Section, Emerging Social Issues Division, ESCAP, this annual publication provides up-to-date population and development indicators for Asia and the Pacific.
The Data Sheet presents estimates of population size and demographic indicators, such as crude birth and death rates, total fertility rate, adolescent fertility rate, contraceptive prevalence rate, infant and under-five mortality rates, life expectancy at birth and the projected population in 2025. Also shown are the distribution of population by broad age groups, the percentage of population living in urban areas and the growth rate of urban population.

The 2004 Data Sheet includes various social, health and economic indicators such as the ratio of girls and boys enrolled in secondary education, the number and percentage of adults (aged 15-49) living with HIV/AIDS and the GDP per capita.

The total fertility rate for the ESCAP region (2.4 children per woman) conceals a considerable difference in the rates observed at the subregional level. As shown in the Data Sheet, the total fertility rates are lowest in North and Central Asia (1.5 children per woman) and East and North-East Asia (1.7 children per woman), while South and South-West Asia exhibits relatively high fertility at 3.1 children per woman. The decline in fertility is the outcome of a concomitant increase in the contraceptive prevalence rate. In the region as a whole, according to the Data Sheet, 64.4 per cent of currently married women of reproductive age practise family planning with almost 60 per cent using modern methods.

One of the implications of the demographic transition that the region is currently undergoing is population ageing. In the ESCAP region as a whole, the proportion of population aged 65 years and over has now reached 6 per cent.

The ESCAP region is still predominantly rural with slightly over two fifths of the population living in urban areas. However, the region is witnessing a faster growth in urban population, which is currently growing at the rate of 2.4 per cent per year.
The region counts a growing number of people living with HIV/AIDS. According to estimates prepared by UNAIDS cited in the publication, there are currently over 7 million adults (aged 15-49) living with HIV/AIDS in the region.