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 The 2002 edition of the ESCAP Population
Data Sheet has recently been released. Published by the Population
and Rural and Urban Development Division of ESCAP, the annual
publication provides the most up-to-date population and
development indicators for Asia and the Pacific.
Using the most recent data available from
censuses and surveys carried out by member countries and the
estimates and projections prepared by the Population Division of
the United Nations Secretariat, the Data Sheet presents the 2002
estimates of population size and demographic indicators, such as
crude birth and death rates, total fertility rates, infant and
under-five mortality rates, life expectancy at birth and the
projected population in 2025.
Also shown in the Data Sheet are the
distribution of population by broad age groups, the percentage of
population living in urban areas, and the number and percentage of
the adult population living with HIV/AIDS.
At the approach of the Fifth Asian and
Pacific Population Conference, to be held at Bangkok from 11 to 17
December under the theme "Population and Poverty in Asia and
the Pacific", the figures and trends put forward by the
publication gain even more significance. Highlighting the changes
in population and its parameters, experienced by the ESCAP region
over the past 10 years, appears particularly pertinent.
The previous such Conference was held at
Bali in 1992, under the theme of "Population and Sustainable
Development". During the past decade, the total population of
the region increased from 3.4 billion in 1992 to 3.8 billion in
2002; an absolute increase of 476 million in 10 years, which shows
an annual average population growth rate of 1.3 per cent.
According to the medium-variant
projections prepared by the United Nations, the population of the
Asia-Pacific region is expected to reach 4.7 billion in 2025.
The slowing down of the population growth
rate is mainly due to a sharp decline in the total fertility rate,
from 3.1 children per woman in 1992 to 2.4 in 2002. The ESCAP
region also witnessed a reduction in the infant mortality rate,
from 62 to 53 per thousand live births during the same period.
There has been a corresponding rise in the expectation of life at
birth increased from 64.2 to 66 years for males and 66.7 to 70
years for females.
Although the total fertility rate for the
ESCAP region is 2.4 children per woman, there is a considerable
difference in the rates observed in the subregions. The total
fertility rates are lowest in North and Central Asia (1.5 children
per woman) and East and North-East Asia (1.6 children per woman),
while South and South-West Asia exhibits relatively high fertility
at 3.3 children per woman. In South-East Asia and in the Pacific,
the total fertility rates are 2.5 and 2.4, respectively.
Adolescent fertility (the fertility rate
of women aged 15 to 19) also dropped significantly in the region,
with a regional average rate of 36 births per thousand women aged
15 to 19. However, there are great disparities in adolescent
fertility among countries of the region. For example, all the
countries in East and North-East Asia, with the exception of
Mongolia and including Singapore in South-East Asia, have reduced
the adolescent fertility rate to below 8 per thousand women. By
contrast, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Guam exhibited an
adolescent fertility rate of over 100 per thousand women.
Great disparity in the average life span
can also be seen in the ESCAP region. While Japan holds the palm
with the highest expectancy at birth for females at 85 years, many
countries and areas have female life expectancies at birth of 80
years and over: Hong Kong, China; Macao, China; New Zealand; and
Singapore. But the average life span of females is 65 years or
lower in countries such as Cambodia, the Lao People’s Democratic
Republic, Myanmar in South-Asia; Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan,
India, Nepal and Pakistan in South and South-West Asia; and Nauru
and Papua New Guinea in the Pacific.
Population ageing is one of the
implications of the demographic transition on-going in the region
(declining fertility and mortality). In the ESCAP region as a
whole, the proportion of the population aged 65 years and over has
reached 6 per cent. The proportion of elderly persons is even
higher at 11 per cent in North and Central Asia, 10 per cent in
the Pacific and 8 per cent in East and North-East Asia. Japan is
the most aged country, with 18 per cent of its population aged 65
years and over.
The rise in life expectancies at birth, as
well as the increase in the gap between female and male life
expectancies at birth, have greatly changed the sex ratio of the
population aged 65 years and over. In North and Central Asia,
which exhibits a large gap in life expectancies at birth between
females and males, there are twice as many females as males (sex
ratio of 50 males per 100 females) in the 65 years and over age
group. The overall sex ratio of population aged 65 years and over
is 80 males per 100 females.
The urban population of the ESCAP region
is currently growing at a rate twice as high as the total
population. As a result, the urban population of ESCAP is 39 per
cent of the total population in 2002, compared to 32 per cent in
1992. The percentage of urban population is highest in the Pacific
(70 per cent), followed by North and Central Asia (67 per cent).
By contrast, the proportion of the urban population is lowest in
South and South-West Asia (33 per cent).
The
2002 ESCAP Population Data Sheet also highlights the prevalence of
adults (15 to 49 years old) living with HIV/AIDS in the region.
According to its findings, close to 6 million adults are estimated
to be living with HIV/AIDS. India has the highest number of adults
living with HIV/AIDS (3.5 million), followed by Thailand
(740,000), Myanmar (510,000) and China (500,000). However, the
prevalence rate (percentage of adults living with HIV/AIDS to the
total adult population) is highest in Cambodia; 4 per cent,
followed by Thailand; 2,2 percent and Myanmar; 2 per cent.
The Web version of the 2002 ESCAP Data Sheet is
available on the Internet at http://www.unescap.org/pop/data_sheet/2002/index.htm
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What
role do monks play in an adolescent reproductive and sexual health
project in Cambodia? How did community-based projects in Nepal and
Pakistan overcome socio-cultural barriers and enlist the active
involvement of men in reproductive health programmes? How do
projects in the Lao People's Democratic Republic and Sri Lanka
approach the sensitive issue of young people’s reproductive
health? The latest European Commission/UNFPA publication, titled
"Lessons Learned", answers these questions and many
more.
