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16. Between 1950 and 1985, world population grew at an annual rate of 1.9 per cent, compared with 0.8 per cent in the half-century preceding 1950. Population growth is now concentrated in the developing regions of Asia, Africa, and Latin America, which accounted for 85 per cent of the increase of global population since 1950. (See Table 4–1.)

17. The processes of population growth are changing in most developing countries as birth and death rates fall. In the early 1950s, practically all developing countries had birth rates over 40 and death rates over 20, the major exception being the low death rates in Latin America, (These rates refer to the annual number of births add deaths per 1,000 population.) Today the situation is quite different:
 * Thirty-two per cent of the people in the Third World live in countries – such as China and the Republic of Korea – with birth rates below 25 and death rates below 10.
 * Forty-one per cent are in countries where birth rates have fallen, but not as much as death rates, and their populations are growing at around 2 per cent – doubling, in other words, every 34 years. Such countries include Brazil, India, Indonesia, and Mexico.
 * The remaining 27 per cent live in countries, such as Algeria, Bangladesh, Iran, and Nigeria. where death rates have fallen slightly but birth rates remain high. Overall population growth is in the range of 2.5 to 3 per cent (doubling every 28 to 23 years), with even higher growth rates in some countries, such as Kenya.

18. In the industrial world, fertility rates have declined and the population is not growing rapidly. In fact, it has stabilized in many countries. Still, the population in North America. Europe, the USSR, and Oceania is expected to increase by 230 million by the year 2025, which is as many people as live in the United States today. /…