Africa-Press – South-Sudan. US foreign intelligence service – the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) – has published the latest figures on population growth rates for 236 countries and territories around the world, where South Sudan shockingly emerged as the only country with the fastest growing population.
The global population clocked 8 billion in November 2022 and continues to rise unevenly with some countries showing explosive population growth while others have seen significant declines.
South Sudan ranked first in the list with a 4.65 percent growth rate – in what has been attributed to the influx of refugees and returnees from war-torn Sudan and partly because 70 percent of South Sudan’s population is below the age of 30.
Despite topping the world list of countries with the fastest growing populations, South Sudan stands at number 10 in the world in terms of birth rates, with an estimated 34 births per 1,000 population.
“South Sudan shows the highest population growth because it is estimated to get some of the migrants fleeing Sudan during the ongoing hostilities/civil war there,” Tomas Sobotka, a senior researcher at the Wittgenstein Center for Demography and Global Human Capital and deputy director of the Vienna Institute of Demography, told Newsweek.
The country has an estimated population of nearly 13 million people including 6.4 million males and 6.2 million females, according to CIA’s World Factbook.
South Sudan was forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2029 by in total 2.4 million people, according to a population estimate data from Statistisa.
Sobotka stated that most countries with high rates of population growth have high fertility rate and a young population structure, in which many women are in their reproductive ages.
“Although fertility rates have been declining everywhere, countries with young population structure will continue experiencing high population growth in many decades to come,” he added.
A country’s overall growth rate is calculated by its birthrate compared to deaths, as well as its net immigration, and can be positive or negative.
The top 10 countries with fastest growing populations are all in Africa. They are; South Sudan, Niger, Angola, Benin, Equatorial Guinea, Uganda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Chad, Mali, and Zambia.
Meanwhile, the United States is number 131 on the list, with a population growth rate of 0.67 percent.
Sobotka pointed out that some of the table’s results are counterintuitive, as several of the top 10 countries are in or near conflict zones, while war-torn Ukraine is positioned as the fastest-growing country outside of Africa.
The researcher stated that high rates of population growth are often challenging because they increase the pressure on available resources and make it more difficult for the governments to improve infrastructure, build better cities, expand education system and protect available resources.
He however said such challenges can be partly overcome by sound policymaking in countries that have competent governments.
“Eventually, better education, improved access to health and contraception, urbanization and economic growth will reduce fertility rates, and this will subsequently lead to lower population growth.”
Source: Eye Radio
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