Ahsan sounds alarm over reversal in population growth trend

ISLAMABAD
Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal on Thursday declared Pakistan’s rapidly growing population a national emergency, calling for a coordinated national strategy to balance population growth with available resources to ensure sustainable development and economic prosperity.
“The renewed acceleration in population growth is alarming; we have taken our foot off the brake and put it on the accelerator. This trend must be reversed,” he said while addressing the first meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Population Council. He said the population growth rate, which had gradually declined since 1980 to 2.4 per cent, had increased to 2.55 per cent in the 2023 census, showing a worrying reversal in the declining trend.
Ahsan Iqbal said population figures were not merely statistics but raised critical questions about Pakistan’s future, its children and the sustainability of national resources. He said sustainable development and economic prosperity could not be achieved without maintaining a balance between population growth and available resources. If the economy grew by five per cent while the population increased by 2.5 per cent, he explained, the actual per capita growth would remain only 2.5 per cent.
The minister said controlling population growth was essential to meeting the growing demands for education, healthcare, employment and basic facilities. He also pointed out that linking 82 per cent of the distribution of national resources to population created a contradiction by potentially encouraging population growth. He stressed the need to link the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award with development and sustainability indicators to encourage provinces to maintain balanced population growth.
Ahsan Iqbal said the population challenge was not limited to healthcare or family planning but was also closely linked to girls’ education, women’s economic empowerment and social awareness. He called upon federal and provincial governments to treat the issue as a national emergency and adopt a joint strategy to address it.
He said controlling population growth was indispensable for Pakistan’s economic security, achievement of development targets and the future of coming generations. The minister called for collective national efforts focusing on healthcare, education, community awareness and changes in social attitudes to effectively address the challenge.