The ‘demographic transition’ in Pakistan, which may lead to high fertility rates; longer spans of life reducing the mortality rates; accompanied by increasing urbanization and lower utilization of labor in agrarian activities, is at a nascent stage: yet too far from a position to distribute any demographic dividend to the National Income. But we can see around us changes in our demographic complexion, which if duly harnessed, could reduce the usual transition period from 5 decades to a lesser period.1
We have a huge population of around 189 million, growing at the rate of 1.64% per annum; the Median Age is at 23.2 years; average life span has grown to around 67.73 years, and the high fertility rate of 3.22 has given rise to one of the highest number of potential work force (39%), which is aged between 15 to 39 years. Not only is there an increased inflow of population to the cities, with the Urban Population standing at 38%, but rural areas are continuously getting urbanized at a fast pace due to advancement, particularly in electronic communication.2 read more..
1 What Is the Demographic Dividend? Ronald Lee and Andrew Mason Finance & Development: A quarterly magazine of the IMF September 2006, Volume 43, Number 3
2 www.worldmeters.info/world.population/pakistan ; www.geoba.se/population ; www.pbs.gov.pk