Jordan Times
Tuesday, May 3, 2005
Clock tracks Kingdom's
population growth
AMMAN (JT) — The annual increase in Jordan's population now stands at 2.5 per
cent, a population council official said on Monday.
According to Abdul Monem Malkawi, population communication manager at the Higher
Population Council (HPC), a population clock will be published in the Kingdom's
newspapers every Sunday until the end of the year, recording the estimated
number of people living in the Kingdom that week.
The initiative is part of the HPC's “2005 Population Year” campaign aimed at
raising awareness on population issues among the general public.
The purpose of the clock, he added, is to encourage the nation to become more
involved and take partial responsibility for the growth in population, which is
mainly the result of high birthrates.
In a seminar held by the HPC last September, an HPC official declared that
Jordan has reached a critical phase, explaining that if population growth has
not been reduced to 1.4 per cent by 2020, the nation will not have enough basic
necessities to go around, including food and water.
The annual birthrate in the Kingdom has now reached 160,000, while death rates
have reached 30,000, Malkawi said, adding that approximately 420 children are
born everyday.
He explained that the population growth rate is determined by subtracting the
death rate from the birthrate and adding that figure to the difference between
the number of emigrants and immigrants.