GROWING DEMOGRAPHIC DIVIDE BETWEEN DEVELOPED AND DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

According to UNFPA's State of World Population 2009 the world population has reached 6.83 millions and it is growing at the rate of 1.2 percent per year. There is a great demographic divide between developed and developing countries. The more developed countries have only 1,233.3 millions and they exhibit a growth rate of only 0.3 percent per year. The less developed countries have 5,596.1 million people and they exhibit a growth rate of 1.4 percent per year. 835.5 million people in the less developed countries are living in what are designated as the least developed countries which exhibit a growth rate of 2.3 percent. Table 5.3 shows the size of population, rate of growth and doubling time for developed and developing countries of the world.

The divide in population dynamics of developed and developing countries has implication for economic, political and social divides. There are also such divides within the less developed countries, caused by their colonial past and unequal and capitalist development.