ABSTRACT
A Discussion of the causes of economic backwardness and the prospects of a rise in the levels of living over large areas of the world must start with an appraisal of the number of people involved. Most programmes for economic and social betterment are in the nature of middle- and long-term schemes; thus not only is the present size of a population an important datum, but also its future size and the changes in the rates of its growth which may occur during what is envisaged as the period for the implementation of a programme. Data on potential trends in the future are necessarily of a speculative character; the more so, the more deficient are the statistical series and services on which they rest. Yet no planning of economic and social development can forego population projections because they serve as points of departure for the calculation of development needs and magnitudes of human resources. However, let us first examine the existing demographic conditions now prevailing in underdeveloped areas.
