 | |
Births (above) are projected to level off in all regions by the year 2000, except for sub-Saharan Africa, where the continuing increase in population will result in the annual number of births reaching 35 million by 2025. In 1975, the under-16 population (below) of the East Asia and Pacific region topped 500 million, and stabilized at that level. South Asia is projected to reach that level by the year 2000, and sub-Saharan Africa by 2025. | |
 | |
 | The total fertility rate (average
number of births per woman) in sub-Saharan Africa has recently started to fall
(below), which should stabilize the number of births in the future. All other
regions show large reductions in their fertility rates. In East Asia and the
Pacific, the 1995 fertility rate is little more than a third of the 1950 level.
 |
| Life expectancy (above,
left) increased by 10 years or more in most regions between 1950 and 1995, with
South Asia and East Asia and the Pacific showing gains of 20 years or more. Source for four figures: United Nations, World population prospects -- the 1994 revision, New York, 1995. | |