On 11 July 2011, at “Henaran” Press Club, UNFPA Armenia held a press conference devoted to the World Population Day 2011 and the place of Armenia in the world of 7 billion. Mr. Vanik Babajanyan, Head of Demographic Division of the RA Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (MLSA), Ms. Ruben Yeganyan, Independent Demography Expert, and Mr. Garik Hayrapetyan, UNFPA Assistant Representative participated in the press conference.
Currently about 78 million people are added to global population each year and on 31 October 2011, world population will reach 7 billion, according to the United Nations Population Division.
Whether we can live together on a healthy planet will depend on the choices that we make now. Therefore, today, on World Population Day, UNFPA is launching a global campaign called “7 Billion Actions” to create a more just and sustainable world.
“Soon we will enter the world of 7 billion. This event represents both global challenges and opportunities”, said UNFPA Assistant Representative, “however, we should try to understand, what it specifically brings for Armenia”.
Armenia currently faces a number of demographic challenges: low fertility, population aging, migration, and increased mortality.
According to the Survey of Reproductive Preferences of Armenia’s population, about the results of which a short film was demonstrated at the press conference, 57% of Armenian families would like to have 3-4 children, while the current average number of children is two. At the same time, more than two thirds of the surveyed expressed no intention to have children during the upcoming three years.
The survey that was conducted in 2009 by UNFPA, RA MLSA, and RA National Statistical Service reveals that the following main factors prevent Armenian families from having children: difficulty of ensuring proper future for children, unwillingness of one of the spouses, poor housing conditions, etc.
According to the median projection of the UN Population Division, world population will reach 8 billion by 2025, 9 billion by 2043, and then 10 billion by 2083. Armenia is projected to have a population of 2.3-2.5 million in 2050.
