ABSTRACT
This chapter summarizes the demographic trends in Pakistan. The demographic hallmark of Pakistan is its rapid and recently accelerating rate of population growth. A total of 33.7 million was recorded at the time of the 1951 census, 42.9 million in 1961, 65.3 in 1972 and 84.2 in 1981. At the time of independence, it was estimated that the crude death rate in Pakistan was 25-30 per thousand, that is, 2.5 to 3.0 percent of the population died annually. In spite of the high rates of population growth, Pakistan has not encountered the crises which were predicted during the 1960s, in part because the population of Pakistan has served as a significant resource for economic groups. The population of Pakistan was an export commodity during the late 1970s and early 1980s. The large labor supply of Pakistan generated by its high rate of population growth is central to other explanations of economic growth in Pakistan.
