Publication: Policy Note on Population Growth and its Implications in Timor-Leste
Loading...
Date
2008-10-09
ISSN
Published
2008-10-09
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
The report offers a description of current demographics, including density, population structure, and the components of population change. It explains projection procedures and provides results, including some alternative projections. The report assesses consequences of population growth for key sectors of society such as education and employment and offers options for modifying future population trends, focusing on high fertility and the reasons behind it. A brief discussion of the health sector highlights problems of promoting family planning. Comparisons are made where appropriate with other developing countries, particularly within Southeast Asia.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“World Bank. 2008. Policy Note on Population Growth and its Implications in Timor-Leste. © http://hdl.handle.net/10986/18916 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Uganda - Demography and Economic Growth in Uganda(World Bank, 2011-12-01)Uganda has one of the youngest and most rapidly growing populations in the world. The most important demographic issue for Uganda is related to the age structure rather than the overall size of its population. A very young population represents a major challenge for Uganda in the short and medium term. In order to change its population age structure faster, Uganda needs to accelerate the demographic transition, namely the shift from high levels of mortality and fertility to low levels of mortality and fertility. Once mortality (especially infant and child) and fertility rates begin to fall, young age dependency ratio will follow the same trend albeit with some lag. This will have positive - and quite possibly major - implications for the economic growth. Given the high fertility and reduced mortality over the last several decades, Uganda's population will be growing rapidly over the next several decades. Uganda's economic future looks brighter under assumptions of demographic change.Publication Sri Lankan Population Change and Demographic Bonus Challenges and Opportunities in the New Millennium(Washington, DC, 2012-11)This paper examines the population changes and the related causative factors, namely fertility, mortality and international migration in Sri Lanka. During the past decades, the total size, as well as the age and sex structure of the population, was exposed to irreversible changes. The age structure transition has produced a demographic bonus conducive for an economic takeoff. During this period, the proportion of people of working age (15-59) is larger than the fraction in the dependent age categories. The paper includes a sector analysis of the employed population in the agriculture, industry and service sectors to identify the growth sectors of the economy and to reveal the potential patterns and levels of utilization of the demographic bonus. Finally, the social safety net implications of the emerging population, such as the dependency burden, aging, disability and the disintegration of traditional family system in Sri Lanka are examined. Sri Lanka's population has grown to 20 million in 2010, an almost eight-fold increase since the census of 1871. The population doubled 54 years after the first census (1925), then again in 35 years (1960), as a result of the relatively high population growth rate. The 2001 census calculated a population 18.7 million. By 2003, the population was estimated to be 19.2 million, a third doubling in 43 years. By 2010, the population of Sri Lanka had passed the 20 million mark.Publication Yemen - Development Policy Review(Washington, DC, 2008-04)Yemen is the second poorest country in the Middle East and North Africa region, with 42 percent of its population counted as poor in 1998. GDP has stagnated at around US$530 per capita in real terms since 2002. Unemployment, estimated at 11.5 percent in 1999, is expected to have worsened as the population has climbed at 3 percent a year and the labor force has burgeoned. Extreme gender inequalities persist. Malnutrition is so severe that Yemeni children suffer the world's second worst stunting in growth. And natural resources are increasingly constrained. Two-thirds of Yemen's known oil reserves were depleted by 2003, and production has already begun to decline and will plummet by 2012 if no new reserves are discovered. Freshwater is also increasingly scarce: per capita availability in Yemen is about 2 percent of the world average and projected to diminish by a third in the next 20 years because of the expected increase in population. Compounding these economic, social, and resource problems are Yemen's policy and institutional failings, which have prompted donors to cut aid. Yemen received a meager US$13 in development assistance per capita in 2004. In 2005, the Development Assistance Committee cut International Development Association (IDA) 14 (2006-08) allocations to Yemen by nearly a third, and the U.S. government's Millennium Challenge Corporation suspended Yemen's eligibility for assistance because of its worsening corruption, regulatory quality, and fiscal policies. The main challenges to Yemen's growth are the impending rapid decline in oil revenues, the weak capacity of governance institutions, the pressures of high population growth, and the worsening scarcity of freshwater. The country has yet to come to grips with the imminent oil decline and its consequences. The Government is concerned about governance problems and is recently attempting to speed up reforms. The last two challenges-high population growth and water crisis- are long recognized by the government, but reforms have been slow.Publication Fertility Decline in Pakistan 1980-2006(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2010-05)Pakistan was selected as a case study because of its estimated 40 percent decline in fertility between 1980 and 2006. Pakistan's high fertility rate began to decline gradually after the late 1980s and has continued to fall since then, though progress has been uneven and there have been signs of a slowdown in recent years. Unlike the other four case study countries (Algeria, Botswana, Iran, and Nicaragua), the history of fertility reduction in Pakistan has not been an overwhelming success story but rather a story of challenges, partial responses, and shortcomings that offer abundant lessons for other high-fertility countries as well as planners in Pakistan.Publication Fertility Decline in Botswana 1980-2006(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2010-05)Botswana has had a stable democratic government and good governance since independence in 1966. With a sustained high average economic growth (about 9 percent) fueled by the diamond mining industry, it is the only country in Africa listed among the 13 'economic miracles' of the world for 1960-2005. The total fertility rate remains high in Sub-Saharan Africa, with 25 countries showing a rate greater than 5.0. In contrast, Botswana experienced the greatest fertility decline in the region during 1980-2006, with the total fertility rate decreasing from 7.1 in 1981 to 3.2 in 2006. The Botswana national family planning program, judged the strongest in Africa, contributed to this decline. The government strongly committed to meeting family planning needs, integrated maternal and child health/family planning (MCH/FP) and sexually transmitted infection (STI) services in 1973. The government spends about 18 percent of its total budget on health, a higher proportion than the Abuja declaration's target of 15 percent.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication World Development Report 2011(World Bank, 2011)The 2011 World development report looks across disciplines and experiences drawn from around the world to offer some ideas and practical recommendations on how to move beyond conflict and fragility and secure development. The key messages are important for all countries-low, middle, and high income-as well as for regional and global institutions: first, institutional legitimacy is the key to stability. When state institutions do not adequately protect citizens, guard against corruption, or provide access to justice; when markets do not provide job opportunities; or when communities have lost social cohesion-the likelihood of violent conflict increases. Second, investing in citizen security, justice, and jobs is essential to reducing violence. But there are major structural gaps in our collective capabilities to support these areas. Third, confronting this challenge effectively means that institutions need to change. International agencies and partners from other countries must adapt procedures so they can respond with agility and speed, a longer-term perspective, and greater staying power. Fourth, need to adopt a layered approach. Some problems can be addressed at the country level, but others need to be addressed at a regional level, such as developing markets that integrate insecure areas and pooling resources for building capacity Fifth, in adopting these approaches, need to be aware that the global landscape is changing. Regional institutions and middle income countries are playing a larger role. This means should pay more attention to south-south and south-north exchanges, and to the recent transition experiences of middle income countries.Publication Classroom Assessment to Support Foundational Literacy(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-03-21)This document focuses primarily on how classroom assessment activities can measure students’ literacy skills as they progress along a learning trajectory towards reading fluently and with comprehension by the end of primary school grades. The document addresses considerations regarding the design and implementation of early grade reading classroom assessment, provides examples of assessment activities from a variety of countries and contexts, and discusses the importance of incorporating classroom assessment practices into teacher training and professional development opportunities for teachers. The structure of the document is as follows. The first section presents definitions and addresses basic questions on classroom assessment. Section 2 covers the intersection between assessment and early grade reading by discussing how learning assessment can measure early grade reading skills following the reading learning trajectory. Section 3 compares some of the most common early grade literacy assessment tools with respect to the early grade reading skills and developmental phases. Section 4 of the document addresses teacher training considerations in developing, scoring, and using early grade reading assessment. Additional issues in assessing reading skills in the classroom and using assessment results to improve teaching and learning are reviewed in section 5. Throughout the document, country cases are presented to demonstrate how assessment activities can be implemented in the classroom in different contexts.Publication The Journey Ahead(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-10-31)The Journey Ahead: Supporting Successful Migration in Europe and Central Asia provides an in-depth analysis of international migration in Europe and Central Asia (ECA) and the implications for policy making. By identifying challenges and opportunities associated with migration in the region, it aims to inform a more nuanced, evidencebased debate on the costs and benefits of cross-border mobility. Using data-driven insights and new analysis, the report shows that migration has been an engine of prosperity and has helped address some of ECA’s demographic and socioeconomic disparities. Yet, migration’s full economic potential remains untapped. The report identifies multiple barriers keeping migration from achieving its full potential. Crucially, it argues that policies in both origin and destination countries can help maximize the development impacts of migration and effectively manage the economic, social, and political costs. Drawing from a wide range of literature, country experiences, and novel analysis, The Journey Ahead presents actionable policy options to enhance the benefits of migration for destination and origin countries and migrants themselves. Some measures can be taken unilaterally by countries, whereas others require close bilateral or regional coordination. The recommendations are tailored to different types of migration— forced displacement as well as high-skilled and low-skilled economic migration—and from the perspectives of both sending and receiving countries. This report serves as a comprehensive resource for governments, development partners, and other stakeholders throughout Europe and Central Asia, where the richness and diversity of migration experiences provide valuable insights for policy makers in other regions of the world.Publication Europe and Central Asia Economic Update, Fall 2024: Better Education for Stronger Growth(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-10-17)Economic growth in Europe and Central Asia (ECA) is likely to moderate from 3.5 percent in 2023 to 3.3 percent this year. This is significantly weaker than the 4.1 percent average growth in 2000-19. Growth this year is driven by expansionary fiscal policies and strong private consumption. External demand is less favorable because of weak economic expansion in major trading partners, like the European Union. Growth is likely to slow further in 2025, mostly because of the easing of expansion in the Russian Federation and Turkiye. This Europe and Central Asia Economic Update calls for a major overhaul of education systems across the region, particularly higher education, to unleash the talent needed to reinvigorate growth and boost convergence with high-income countries. Universities in the region suffer from poor management, outdated curricula, and inadequate funding and infrastructure. A mismatch between graduates' skills and the skills employers are seeking leads to wasted potential and contributes to the region's brain drain. Reversing the decline in the quality of education will require prioritizing improvements in teacher training, updated curricula, and investment in educational infrastructure. In higher education, reforms are needed to consolidate university systems, integrate them with research centers, and provide reskilling opportunities for adult workers.Publication World Development Report 2006(Washington, DC, 2005)This year’s Word Development Report (WDR), the twenty-eighth, looks at the role of equity in the development process. It defines equity in terms of two basic principles. The first is equal opportunities: that a person’s chances in life should be determined by his or her talents and efforts, rather than by pre-determined circumstances such as race, gender, social or family background. The second principle is the avoidance of extreme deprivation in outcomes, particularly in health, education and consumption levels. This principle thus includes the objective of poverty reduction. The report’s main message is that, in the long run, the pursuit of equity and the pursuit of economic prosperity are complementary. In addition to detailed chapters exploring these and related issues, the Report contains selected data from the World Development Indicators 2005‹an appendix of economic and social data for over 200 countries. This Report offers practical insights for policymakers, executives, scholars, and all those with an interest in economic development.