UNITED NATIONS ISSUES ‘NATIONAL POPULATION POLICIES 2001’

UNITED NATIONS ISSUES ‘NATIONAL POPULATION POLICIES 2001’

New York, 31 October (DESA) -- The Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs has issued National Population Policies 2001, which contains the most comprehensive and up-to-date information available on the population policy situation for all Member and non-Member States of the United Nations.  Revised and updated on a biennial basis, this publication provides an overview of population policies and dynamics for each of the Member and non-Member States, for which data are available at mid-decade for the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s

-— that is, at the time of the convening of the United Nations international population conferences at Bucharest, Mexico City and Cairo.  The present publication provides information up to and including 2001.

Included in the publication, is information on national population policies in relation to population growth, fertility, mortality, international migration and spatial distribution.  In order to provide the proper demographic background, a number of key demographic indicators are also presented.

Among the major findings of the study are:

-- The most significant demographic concern in the world is HIV/AIDS.  At least three out of every four countries in both more and less developed regions reported HIV/AIDS to be the most significant demographic issue for the country 

-- Other major concerns include low fertility and population ageing in developed countries and infant, child and maternal mortality in developing countries

-- Continued high rates of population growth remain an issue of policy concern for more than one-half of countries in the less developed regions

-- Three-quarters of all countries provide direct support for access to contraceptive methods

-- About 60 per cent of developing countries have policies in place to lower fertility

-- Forty per cent of the world’s countries have implemented policies to lower the level of immigration

-- Three-fourth of all countries are satisfied with the level of emigration

The country profiles can be downloaded from the Web site of the Population Division at www.unpopulation.org or purchased in a CD-ROM version at a cost of

$100.00.  For additional information, please contact Joseph Chamie, Director, Population Division, United Nations, New York, N.Y. 10017, USA; tel. (212) 963-3921 or fax (212) 963-2147.

National Population Policies 2001 is available for $45.00; (Sales No. E.02.XIII.12, ISBN 92-1-151368-5) from United Nations Publications, Two UN Plaza, Room DC2-853, Dept. PRES, New York, NY 10017 USA; tel. 800-253-9646 or 212-963-8302, fax. 212-963-3489, e-mail: publications@un.org; or Section des Ventes et Commercialisation, Bureau E-4, CH-1211, Geneva 10, Switzerland, tel. 41-22-917-2614, fax. 41-22-917-0027, e-mail; unpubli@unog.ch; Internet: httpl//www.un.org/publications.

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