Publication: Sri Lankan Population Change and Demographic Bonus Challenges and Opportunities in the New Millennium
Date
2012-11
ISSN
Published
2012-11
Author(s)
World Bank
Abstract
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.
Citation
“World Bank. 2012. Sri Lankan Population Change and Demographic Bonus Challenges and Opportunities in the New Millennium. South Asia Human Development Sector report
no. 37;. © Washington, DC. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/17990 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”