The prime minister described Pakistan’s yearly population growth rate of 2.55% as a concerning trend that has to be addressed immediately and via concerted national policy action. The prime minister’s concerns about the country’s rapid population increase have now reached the highest levels of government. These remarks were made on Thursday, August 7, during a high-level meeting held at the Prime Minister’s Office to discuss practical ways to deal with Pakistan’s growing population and to examine the issues it presents. The difficulties that women and young people face in the face of fast population increase were given special attention by officials, who emphasized the need to give women more work options and to give young people the chance to contribute to the development of the country. They also emphasized how critical it is to start a national awareness campaign to inform people about the consequences of unbridled population expansion. Pakistan’s economy would need to more than double in the same time frame in order to raise living standards, as the country’s population is expected to double by 2050. According to the World Bank, around 40% of the population already lives in poverty, and the economy is not even growing at a pace of 2.0%. And if the current rates of population expansion continue, jobs will be among the resources that will be strained.

The present population trajectory is going to put pressure on energy, water, land, and even breathable air.  Young people will be disproportionately affected by these demands.  Given the current conditions, women who already experience systemic inequalities and exclusion run the risk of being further marginalized if competition for resources heats up.  Given this, the government must devise a two-pronged plan that would enable Pakistan to accommodate its expanding population while also giving its citizens the agency they require to better their lot in life.  This entails not only increasing employment prospects and housing stock but also enhancing women’s and labor rights, education, and access to family planning and other services. But it’s important to avoid making the poor and young people into problems when addressing this issue. Although there is no denying the difficulties that come with a growing population, this way of thinking has the potential to negatively impact the impoverished and the young. The wealthy elite, who frequently worry the most about the growing population, are not the ones using the great bulk of the nation’s resources.

The true issue facing Pakistan and a large portion of the Global South is a radically unequal political and economic structure, which is made worse by an expanding population.  By abandoning this approach, the nation will be able to control population increase to the point where politicians no longer have to worry about it.  After all, a number of nations’ populations are already declining and they want to stop this trend.  If not properly managed, simply halting or reversing population increase could result in stagnation issues instead of capacity and strain issues.

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