112298  UNITED NATIONS DEMOGRAPHERS REPORT
WORLD POPULATION IS SIGNIFICANTLY SLOWING/
61 COUNTRIES NOW EXPERIENCING
BELOW REPLACEMENT FERTILITY

* The world's population is growing at a rate slower than previously
thought, according to numbers just released by UN demographers in New
York City. The last UN revision reported in 1996 showed a world growth
rate of 1.37%. The new numbers reveal that population growth rates have
fallen to 1.33% per year this year. The UN expects this number to fall
to .45% by 2,050. The new numbers are reported in the 1998 Revision of
the World Population Estimates and Projections, a biennial report issued
late last week by the Population Division of the UN Department of
Economic and Social Affairs.

* The 1998 Revision goes on to say that UN projections for total world
population also fell in the last two years. In 1996 the UN predicted a
world population of between 7.6 billion and 11.1 billion by 2,050. The
new report adjusts these predictions downward to a range between 7.3
billion and 10.7 billion. This represents a reduction of approximately
half a billion people from the 1996 report and reduction of one billion
from the 1994 report.

* Steven Mosher, president of the Population Research Institute, a
non-partisan think-tank located in Virginia, explains that "these census
figures make it harder for the population controllers to exaggerate the
number of people on the planet in years to come. The population of the
world will never double again. We will only add 2 or 3 billion members
of the human family before beginning what will be a wrenching decent."

* The 1998 Revision also reports on three alarming population
developments; rapid population aging, the demographic impact of
HIV/AIDs, and the now widespread phenomenon known as below-replacement
fertility.

* For the first time, the Population Division reports on countries
whose demographic picture has been affected by HIV/AIDs. Of the 34
countries most affected, 29 are in Sub-Saharan Africa, three are in
Asia, and two are in Latin America. In the hardest hit African
countries, life expectancy at birth is currently estimated at 47 years,
seven years less than what could have been expected without the presence
of AIDs. Moreover, in Botswana, life expectancy is expected actually to
drop from 61 years in 1995 to 47 years in 2,000.

* The 1998 Revision says the aging of the world's population continues
at a rapid pace. The median age of the world's population increased
marginally from 23.5 years in 1950 to 26.1 years in 1998. But by 2,050
the world median age is projected to reach 37.8 years. In the developed
world aging is even more stark, with Europe expected to top 47.4 years
in 2,050. Economists insist young populations are needed for economic
growth.

* By far the most alarming statistic in the 1998 Revision, is the
number of countries who have reached what is known as below-replacement
fertility, a condition where the citizens of a country no longer replace
themselves. In order to replace itself, a country must achieve at least
2.1 children per couple. Two years ago 51 countries had fallen below
that number. The number of countries now in below-replacement-fertility
has reached 61. Experts fear these countries are in demographic
free-fall with no end in sight.