CMN 305: Media and Development

Report
On
“Does population growth lead to economic development?”

Prepared for:
Jessica Tartila Suma
Course Instructor of CMN 305

Prepared by:
Sharif Ahmad Shabbir
ID: 0810216

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 Contents

Introduction Page 3
Defining the Variables Page 4
Methodology Page 6
Literature Review Page 7
Analysis Page 10
Case Study Page 17
The Bangladesh Perspective Page 19
The Mass Media Influence Page 20
Conclusion Page 22
Glossary Page 23
Bibliography Page 24

Introduction

Population is a measure of how many persons are living in a specific geographic territory.
It is true that in the recent years, the population of the whole world has increased

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drastically. Now the world population is over the six billion mark and is still increasing
exponentially. This rigorous population growth is leading to many possibilities and also
to many problems as well. More or less we all are aware of the problems created by
overpopulation and this paper does not intend to highlight those problems, instead this
research paper will talk about a possibility associated with population growth which is
economic development.

Does population growth really bring in economic development? What is the practical
relation between population growth and economic development? In a world where people
are increasing day by day, there comes a possibility that using these extra number of
people by turning them into human resources and engaging them in economic activities
can actually lead to economic development. Now is this always the case or there are other
arguments against this fact? This research paper will try to find out answers to these
questions by trying to relate different variables to population growth and economic
development.

If population growth is pertinent in a country what effect does it have on the economic
development of the country? Does population growth make the economy of the country
boost up to a new level or is it the opposite way round? How are the variables interlinked
and contribute to economic development while population growth is occurring?

This research paper will talk about population growth and economic development, how
they are related with insights using the variables, a case study of India, the present
position of Bangladesh in terms of population growth and economic development and
how the media can use communication tools to relate population growth and economic
development using Bangladesh as an example.

Defining the Variables

This research paper will deal with the following variables in analyzing the research topic:
Main Independent Variable Main Dependent Variable

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Population growth Economic Development

Also the independent variable: population growth is dependent on other factors

(variables) which are given below:

- birth rate
- better health facilities
- death rate
- early child marriages
- lack of knowledge on family planning
- lack of education
- migration

A higher birth rate and a lower death rate obviously lead to population growth.
Similarly better health facilities decrease the death rate, as a result population rises.
Early child marriages are also an important factor because in the rural areas of the
developing countries like Bangladesh still today girls are being forced to marry at an
early age. As a result, the girl becomes pregnant at a premature stage, now there can
be two possibilities:

1. The girl dies while giving birth to her child

2. The girl survives while giving birth and later becomes pregnant again to give birth
to more children

Now both the possibilities are dangerous. The first possibility will take away 2 lives
(the mother and the child) which is totally unacceptable as human lives are very
valuable. The second possibility will tend to raise the population. Assuming that most
of the rural people of developing countries do not receive basic education and are
ignorant about family planning, we can easily deduce that the population growth is
mainly triggered by these rural people.

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 Now the rate of population growth will effect economic development. This can be
broken down into two stages:

- Slower population growth

- Faster population growth

Now if the population growth is slower, then there will be less manpower and that could
have an adverse effect on economic growth while in the case of a faster population
growth, the country will have abundant manpower and this in return can foster economic
growth. But faster population growth brings in other problems that might hamper
economic development in the country.

All these variables and factors will be considered in analyzing the relationship between
population growth and economic development to find out a possible answer to the
research question dealt in this paper.

Methodology

Since the research topic is quite extensive and theoretical where there are a lot of
conceptual implications and statistical data, this research paper is heavily dependent on

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secondary sources for information and references. The detailed methodology followed
while preparing this paper is given below:

- First the research idea was generated which is the relationship between population
growth and economic development
- The variables were identified and the factors affecting the variables were also
distinguished
- Then help was taken from secondary sources* for information and references
- Then with the help of the secondary sources, the research question was
formulated
- The research question was then analyzed into further details taking into account
the variables related to population growth and economic development
- A relationship was tried to establish between population growth and economic
development with the help of statistical evidence and case studies
- Then the role of media as an intervening determinant was identified with the help
of a suitable communication model
- With the detailed analysis of the research question, a conclusion was reached as to
whether population growth leads to economic development or not.

* Earlier publications on population growth and economic development which include books, journals,
articles and online content
Literature Review

S.B. Mukherjee in his book titled “Population growth and urbanization in South and
South-East Asia” talks about the socio-economic correlates of population growth. He

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says that mostly high birth rates lead to higher economic development and sometimes it is
also the opposite. He has identified the dependent and independent variables for
population growth very splendidly and analyzed their relationships with the use of
statistical methods but he did not give any specific conclusion at the end of his
discussion. The statistical data analysis is quite complex and needs special expertise to
interpret the in depth meanings of the statistical values.

Michael P. Todaro and Stephen C. Smith in their book titled “Economic Development”
nicely and elaborately discussed population growth and economic development from a
broad perspective by giving in a lot of details and by presenting some useful arguments.
The writers mention the challenges of population growth at the start, then they made a
review of the world population where a comparative picture is shown on what the world’s
population was before, what it is now and how much will it rise in the future.

Then the population structure and why population growth is occurring is well explained
with special emphasis on the population trends in developing countries. How fertility
rates can lead to development, what happens when population growth is desirable and
undesirable, what can be the role of developing nations in terms of population and
economic policy planning and how developed nations can play their role and help
developing countries with their population growth and economic development – all these
issues are highlighted in the discussion with due importance and proper details. The
writers conclude their discussion with the fact that birth rates in many developing
countries have decreased in the recent years leaving a hope for optimism which is very
true and also the developed countries should come forward with development assistance
for the poor developing countries.

In the book named “Understanding Population Change” by Charles B. Nam, the writer
talks about the relationship between population growth and work force. If population
increases, then there will be more people to work and contribute to the economy. The

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writer gives a well explained picture of how the total population of a country is divided
into the working and non working class. The writer then mentions that level of living is
also linked with population growth. If population increases and the economy is
developed, then the level of living of the people of that country will tend to rise also. The
writer also talks about economic development saying that the relationship of population
growth and economic development is not the same in every country, but normally
population growth leads to other factors which help foster the economic growth of the
country which may or may not be true for all the countries.

Dr. A.K.M. Kafiluddin, Professor Emeritus of National Institute of Preventive and Social
Medicine, in his book titled “Population Research, Environmental Conservation and
Economic Development” talks about population growth and economic development from
two perspectives: one from the global perspective and the other from the perspective of
Bangladesh. The writer elaborately talks about the economic consequences of population
growth i.e. how the economy of a country is affected when population growth is faster
and vice versa. It is also mentioned that when population growth is in a slower pace, the
percentage of people in the country living in poverty decreases which implies that
economic development is fostered at declining population growth levels.

The writer also talks about the implications of a high population growth on the economy
in terms of employment levels, productivity and skills of labour, income disparities and
changes in the production sectors to keep pace with the international markets. Dr. A.K.M.
Kafiluddin also gave a similar viewpoint like Charles B. Nam that no firm statements
cannot be made about the relationship between population growth and economic
development as different countries have different experiences in this regard i.e. what is
true for one country might not be suitable for another country as its population growth
pattern and economic structure might be different.
Claus Chr. Portner in his article on “Population Growth and Economic Development’
talks about why studying the relationship between population growth and economic
development is important by giving detailed analysis on the purpose, structure and
theories of population growth and economic development. The writer talked about

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various models of population growth and economic growth explaining their pros and cons
in a very straight forward manner.

The analysis of Walter Rostow’s five step model of economic development was also a
part of the literature review conducted for the preparation of this paper. Walter Rostow’s
theory said that an economy cannot change overnight. It changes in 5 steps and it takes
time to change to insure economic development in the society. Any society at its early
stage will be at the traditional level, and then it will move to a level where it will be ready
for a take-off to the economic transition. Next at the take-off stage the society will move
towards economic development from which it will move towards the maturity level and
then come to a halt assuming that everything in the society runs smoothly. Well Rostow’s
theory was criticized for the fact that no society in practice comes to a peaceful and
harmonious stage after it achieves economic development.

Analysis

Now let’s proceed to the main discussion of whether population growth leads to
economic development or not. Before any analysis of the research question, at first it is

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important to understand what actually population growth and economic development
means.

Population growth means an increase in the population of a particular country. The

population of a country increases only when the total birth rate or fertility rate of the
country exceeds the total death rate or mortality rate of the country. This means that more
people are born in the country making the population go up. Population can also increase
if the total emigration rate of the country is higher than the total immigration rate of the
country. This means that more people are entering the country which in result increases
the overall population of the country.

Population growth up to a certain extent is desirable. Population growth is a blessing for

some countries while it can be a serious problem for other countries. Developed countries
of the world do not face the problem of over population; in fact some developed countries
lack sufficient manpower due to under population and have to attract immigrants from
other countries to fill their manpower resources. While on the other hand, many
developing countries of the world are facing the burden of over population and as a result
lot of adversities persist in those developing countries.

Birth rates, death rates, emigration rates and immigration rates* – all of them depend on
specific factors. They are outlined below:

* See Glossary at the end of this report for meanings

a) Poverty and lack of education: Poor countries have higher birth rates because most of
the people of poor countries living under severe poverty conditions do not have access to
education, most of the people do not have money to spend on education. If the people of
the country are not well educated, then they will be ignorant about the consequences of a

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higher population growth and will not have any knowledge about family planning and its
benefits. It is seen that high fertility rates persist between uneducated people.

b) Lack of family planning knowledge: Many people are not open minded and they feel
shy about family planning programs. Sometimes they see family planning programs as a
violation to their religious beliefs. Especially in many Muslim countries, people do not
want to talk about family planning because they think that family planning will stop the
blessings of God that they receive in the form of children born in their families. They also
think that adopting family planning programs is a sin because you are not letting your
children being born, it is perceived as something equal to abortion. So this issue still
remains as a taboo in many places of the world even today. It is obvious that without
proper family planning programs, it is not possible to lower birth rates of a country which
is already over populated.

c) Early child marriages: This is related to illiteracy. When people are not educated, they
tend to make their children get married at a very early age which can have detrimental
effects. Mostly young girls of rural areas in developing countries are the victims of early
child marriages. It is perceived that girls are of no use (because boys are given more
priority), they are meant to do household chores and rear children. As a result, they are
denied proper access to education which is one of their fundamental citizen rights. The
girl’s parents think that what is the use of giving education to the girl, ultimately she has
to leave them and go to her husband’s house, set up her own family, have children and do
household work. The parents restrict educational access for their daughters thinking that
investing in their daughters’ education is a big waste of money. So they make their
daughters get married at an early age, hence the girls get pregnant at an early age when
their body is not even ready for pregnancy and giving birth to a child. Many girls die to
give birth to their children due to early age pregnancy. It also happens the other way
round, for an early age pregnancy, the baby can be premature and can have high chances
of dying at its birth. All these situations affect the population trends in the country.

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d) Better health facilities: Due to improvements and advancements in science and
medical technology, better health care facilities exist now-a-days than the previous times.
Many diseases can now be completely cured which were at one time perceived to be as
deadly, killer diseases. As a result, many lives can now be saved due to better health care
services. Improved medications are now available which are making people more
resistant to many prominent diseases and are saving many lives; hence less people are
dying compared to the past. So, death rates have significantly reduced influencing
population growth.

e) Better standard of living: Standard of living refers to all the aspects that are necessary
for a proper living which include better job facilities, better life security, better recreation
facilities, better transportation and communication systems, better housing facilities,
better education access and so on. A place which offers a better standard of living than
other areas will certainly attract more people towards it. That is why many people
migrate from the rural areas to the cities in the hope for a better life. So the cities face
over population problems because people entering cities do not tend to leave them very
easily. The migrants continue living in the cities and add up to the total city population.
The same thing can be said for migration between different countries. Developed
countries attract migrants because they have a better standard of living. These migrants
leave their own native lands and join as a member of the new host country. As a result,
the population in the native country will decrease and the population of the country which
is hosting the migrant will increase.

Sometimes population growth is not much of a burden if the population can be distributed
evenly across all the areas in the country. But in practice the total population is never
evenly distributed across the country because not all the areas are equally equipped with
all the elements necessary for a proper living. Places having a higher standard of living
will find themselves very densely populated because more people come and live in those
areas. So at the end, it is seen that some parts of the country are over flooded with people
while the rest of the areas lack a stable population. In order to ensure an even distribution
of population throughout the country, all of the areas should be developed in terms of

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their infrastructure so that the overall population can be dispersed evenly between all the
areas of the country and avoid the problems of high and low population density.

Now let’s talk about economic development. The simplest definition of economic growth
is an increase in real gross domestic product (GDP)* (that is, GDP adjusted for inflation).
The growth rate of real GDP is the percentage change in real GDP from one year to the
next. We can express the rate of growth in, for example, the period 2004-2005, as
follows: Growth rate of GDP = [GDP of 2005 – GDP of 2004]/ GDP of 2004 × 100

In other words, economic development refers to the transition of a country from a low
income economy to a high income economy with respect to its increased population.
Economic development includes all the processes and policies through which a country
makes its economic, political and social progress and ensures well being of its people.

The University of Iowa's Center for International Finance and Development states that:

"'Economic development' or 'development' is a term that economists, politicians, and

others have used frequently in the 20th century. The concept, however, has been in
existence in the West for centuries. Modernization, Westernization, and especially
Industrialization are other terms people have used when discussing economic
development. Although no one is sure when the concept originated, most people agree
that development is closely bound up with the evolution of capitalism and the demise of
feudalism." **

* See Glossary at the end of this for meanings

** R. Conteras, "How the Concept of Development Got Started" University of Iowa Center for
International Finance and Development E-Book
Many theories exist regarding economic development which are given by prominent
sociologists of the earlier times. Among those theories, the theory of economic
development given by Walter Rostow given in 1960 is still well known today. Rostow’s

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theory took account of frequent social changes and related them to development. He has
given five stages for economic development which are:

- The Traditional Society: This is the first stage of the society i.e. the primitive
stage where the economic activities are all centered on agricultural practices. The
productivity of humans is lower and a hierarchical structure exists in the society.
- The Preconditions for Take-Off: This comes in through industrial revolution.
When industrial revolution takes place, investment increases and secondary and
tertiary sectors of production develop. As a result a transition in the society takes
place to initiate development
- Take-Off: This is the stage where the ultimate economic growth takes place. The
main aspect of this period is the self sustained growth with no need of extra inputs
from outside. Few leading industrial sectors are enough to foster development in
the society.
- The Drive to Maturity: This is the stage where economic development leads to
other developments in the society. The investments n industrial sectors
significantly and technological changes are brought out. At the same time, social
and economic prosperity increase to a high extent.
- The Age of High Mass Consumption: This is the final stage in Rostow’s theory
where the society is now all developed and all the people live in prosperity. There
are abundant resources in the society and the consumers are provided with many
options to choose from i.e. they have more choices.

According to Rostow, through these five steps a society can achieve modernity. However
his theory was criticized by other sociologists that not all societies actually live in peace
and harmony as Rostow stated in his theory’s fifth stage because development is an
ongoing process which never comes to a stand still.

Now let’s see how population growth is related to economic development. Population
growth can have both positive and negative effects on economic development of a
country.

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The positive effects include:

- Population growth is related to technological advancements. Increasing

population will lead to technological changes that will be used to meet the rising
demand for goods and services
- Population growth creates a huge labour force and since labour is abundant in the
society, it becomes cheaper also
- Businesses will utilize the cheap labour and will provide them with more and
better job facilities
- Since labour is cheap, the extra money can be used in technological research and
development
- The technological improvements can provide and handle the extra demand for
goods and services needed to serve the rising population. This is because
technological improvements will result in increased production and can increase
the overall demand of the country, thus resulting in economic growth.
- Increase in the overall output of a country increases the per capita income of the
nation
- Increase in population growth that triggers economic development will increase
the income of the people of the country which increases overall spending in the
economy thus fostering growth

However some economists argued that an increased population does create some negative
effects at the start but it does lead to economic development. At the start of the increase
in population, when consumers increase, there is a greater demand for natural raw
materials. This will cause a shortage of goods and services and will trigger high prices in
the market. Then the nation will concentrate on finding out alternative raw material
sources. The search leads to cheaper raw materials which in return lead to cheaper
products and the country will be able to satisfy the increasing demand of the overall
population. So the nation is left in a good condition and is said to achieve a stable state of
economic development.

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On the contrary, other economists are mainly concerned about the negative consequences
of population growth on the economic growth of the country which include:

- Over population hampers the growth output per worker, this happens because the
other factors of production besides labour e.g. capital and land do not increase in
the same proportion as the labour force
- In families with many members, it is hard to save up some money as most of the
money will be spent in fulfilling the demands of the overpopulated family. Since
savings decrease, generation of new investment is hampered that leads to negative
economic growth
- The per capita economic growth decreases due to an increased population
- If the population of the country increases very rapidly, then the supply of goods
and services will be insufficient to feed the increasing population leading to
shortage problems
- The shortages lead to a rise in prices and since the income of the population
remains fixed, their purchasing power decreases, they cannot afford to buy the
high priced goods. This in turn lowers the demand for some goods in the market
- Increase in the population will lead to the depletion of natural resources which are
very limited. As natural resources become scarce, the overall production process
is hampered
- Increased population lead to a decrease in labour wages because the fixed amount
of capital investment has to be distributed among a large number of people and
when the income of the people decrease, poverty arises

Case Study

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Now let’s look at a case study of India. Did the large and massive population of India
help its economic development or not? This case study will be useful in finding the
answer to this question.

Case Study: Does India’s Population Growth have a positive effect on its Economic
Growth?*

India is one of the fastest growing developing countries of the world in terms of
economic growth. In the last couple of years, India’s economy has grown to a large
extent but at the same time India’s population as also grew. However, in recent years the
percentages of population growth got reduced and also have slowed down the rate of
growth. The population issue of India has been addressed by many international
organizations like UNFPA which highlighted the problems of a high population which
are poverty, illiteracy, malnutrition, famine and social inequalities.

Despite the problems associated with a high population growth, India’s economy is still
experiencing positive growth. The growth is just not only in one sector; in fact the growth
is a combined one of all sectors including agriculture, industrial and financial sectors.
This is possible because India has sufficient capacity to provide jobs to its citizens. The
rate of employment in India is increasing every year, and the labour force in India is very
skilled and their rights are ensured by the law and order situation of the country. The
growth in the agricultural sector is also quite significant.

* Rohan Kothare, November 1999

Industries have also grown due to the increase in the labour force but workers are paid a
lower salary than other countries. Due to the government subsidies provided in Indian
higher education, a large of number of professionals like doctors and lawyers are

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increasing in the country. Now the question can arise is India getting benefits from its
huge population to sustain the economic growth that it experiences. Well some might say
that India is not getting all the benefits of a huge population, but at least India is receiving
some benefits from its population to foster economic growth.

Now the factors which highlight the model of India’s ever growing economy can be
considered. Due to India’s growing population, a labour force is created. The Indian
government through its spending policies strengthened the education system of the
country so that the young population could contribute to the Indian economy. With the
rise of education, India was also able to create job opportunities for its population. As
employment increased and more people started working the overall productivity
increased which meant that the output of Indian goods and services increased
significantly. This in turn met the national demands for consumption of the huge
population and the locally produced goods and services could be offered at a cheaper
price to the poor and the needy.

The overall economic situation in India led to micro and macro profit levels which helped
to increase Indian GDP to a great extent. Well overpopulation is seemed to be a demerit
for a country’s development, but India has successfully minimized the negative effects of
overpopulation and made it into a resource to advance the country forward. However,
India still suffers from poverty and malnutrition. But with the persistent economic growth
in the country, India will also be able to eradicate poverty and malnutrition completely
from its structure in the long run.

Since India had a huge population and sufficient amount of natural resources, it could
nurture it to promote economic growth. But not all developing countries have a large
population and are not “lucky” like India.

The Bangladesh Perspective

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After the case study of India, let’s talk about the situation in another developing country,
Bangladesh. Bangladesh is also a South East Asian country located just besides India. It
is a very small country but it has an exploding population. After its independence in
1971, the population increased at a very high rate, now this small county is home to 16
crore people. This rapid population increase can be explained by all the factors explained
earlier in this report which can be found of Pages 10, 11 and 12 of this report.

Bangladesh is one of the poor countries of the world, where maximum of the people live
below the poverty line and earn less than $1 US Dollar per day. The lack of education,
underestimation of women, child marriages, and lack of family planning knowledge has
led to an increase in the overall population of the country. Also the population is not
evenly distributed through out the whole country; more people tend to migrate to the
cities for a better life, making the cities more densely populated while the rural areas
remain under populated. So the effect of population growth is more in the cities where
most of the economic activities take place.

Bangladesh is blessed with a large labour force but the problem is since Bangladesh is a
small country with limited resources, it cannot provide job facilities for all its working
population so most of the manpower of the country is always under utilized. Also
majority of the labour force is unskilled and to train them up will take huge investments
which Bangladesh is unable to afford on its own. Bangladesh is heavily dependent on
foreign loans for economic development and these loans are creating extra burden on the
country. A large amount of the country’s production is going outside the country to pay
for the foreign loans. The labour wages are also not satisfactory; as a result clashes
between workers and capitalists often occur in Bangladesh.

Amidst all these adversities, Bangladesh is still achieving economic growth and
development on a small scale. The question might arise: How? Well what Bangladesh did
is that it exported its extra manpower to other countries which lack an optimum level of
labour force. These exported manpower work outside the country, earn money and send
them back to Bangladesh as remittance. With the remittance money, the government is

19
able to fund various welfare activities in the country and achieve at least some economic
growth. Problems of inflation and the fact that poverty exists; Bangladesh is always a
failure to advance its economy to the next level.

The Mass Media Influence

The mass media is an intervening factor that can highlight issues relating to population
growth and economic development. The media has to adopt its policy for the public
interest to work for the development issues and the factors that affect of which population
growth and economic development issues are prominent. The media has a public duty to
highlight issues that are crucial to the country’s development. The media has to highlight
the population policy of the country’s government through its programs. The programs
have to be interactive enough so that the mass population can understand its message.
These programs must be shown continuously so that people can perceive the importance
of the program’s content and the issues highlighted in the program. As a result, the media
can help set a specific agenda through reinforcement.

The media can create public awareness campaigns of the issues affecting population
growth and economic development. The media can bring in experts and make them
discuss on the issues concerned.in front of the public via live programs. The media can
air educational and informational programs highlighting the consequences of a high
population growth and why economic development is important for the country. The
media can sponsor different events like documentary screening, photo exhibitions, art
shows and cultural shows relating to population growth and economic development.
Through its constructive role, the media can mould in public opinion and bring the whole
nation under one roof on the issue of population growth leading to economic
development.

Now let’s see the mass media influence in Bangladesh on issues related to population
growth and economic development. The Bangladeshi media is quite influential and quite

20
strong enough especially the print media of newspapers. With the rise of several new tv
channels in the last few years, the power of the tv media has also increased in Bangladesh
significantly. More people are now shifting to tv channels for quick and instant news and
know the issues of the day.

The state run tv channel, Bangladesh Television (BTV) has played the pioneer role in
shaping public opinion on issues related to population growth. Bangladesh now needs to
reduce its fertility rates because it is over populated and a balance between the birth rates
and death rates is compulsory in the country. BTV has constantly from a very long time
aired programs highlighting family planning issues and what needs to be done to combat
the problems of a high population growth. At the start, these programs were not
welcomed by the general public because they were shy about family planning issues and
feared that adopting family planning programs will be against their religion. But
gradually when BTV went on airing these informative programs over and over again, it
was successful in reinforcing the idea in the minds of the general people that, population
growth is a huge problem for the country and people must adopt family planning
programs to help the country. With an urge to help the country and when people came to
realize that family planning is important, they started coming out of the box. This is
where the powerful influence of the media lies in, it can make the people believe a
specific issue and create a public opinion through interactive communication methods
which is quite hard to achieve using other methods and that is why the media is so
powerful, trustworthy and very convincing.

Besides family planning programs, almost all of the tv channels have daily talk shows
which sometimes talk about different development issues like population growth. The tv
channels also air various business and trade shows talking about different issues and
prospects related to economic growth and development of the country. In addition to the
tv media, the print media is also constantly publishing articles relating to population
growth and economic development and is helping in shaping the public opinion process.

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In order to address important issues like population growth and economic development,
the media has to play a direct role adopting a direct communication approach in order to
reach a mass audience, cover field events and highlight them on a national and
international level to create awareness. Only then the media can help to bring out positive
changes in the development of the country.

Conclusion

From the whole discussion in this report, it is clear that there is a relationship between
population growth and economic development. Population growth has both positive and
negative effects on economic development of a country. This influence of population
growth on economic development is more persistent in developing countries like India
and Bangladesh. Well population growth is desirable for any country to ensure an
optimum level of labour force, but overpopulation or a high increase in population is
mostly detrimental for economic development. That is why a country should be very
careful with its population policy and population level. According to the country’s
available space and resources, it should determine what level of population it can
maintain so that economic development can be possible. In countries where
overpopulation is a problem, the extra work force should be exported to other countries.
This will bring foreign currency for the domestic country with which it can foster
economic development in the country and also the population problem will be at ease to
some extent. Nevertheless, the relationship of population growth with economic
development is very complex and it varies from country to country. To conclude this
report, it can be said that a steady population growth is desirable for a country to bring in
economic development but a rapid population growth is harmful both in the short and
long run.

Glossary

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Birth rate: the ratio of live births in an area to the population of that area; expressed per
1000 population per year *

Death rate: the ratio of deaths in an area to the population of that area; expressed per
1000 per year *

Emigration Rate: the rate at which people are entering and settling into the domestic
country from a foreign country

Immigration Rate: the rate at which people are leaving the domestic country to settle
down in a foreign country

Gross Domestic Product (GDP): the total market values of goods and services produced
by workers and capital within a nation's borders during a given period usually 1 year *

Per capita income: the total national income divided by the number of people in the
nation *

* Definitions taken from WordNet at http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu

Bibliography

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