LONDON, ENGLAND, March 5, 2003: According to the United Nations 2002 Revision of World Population Prospects, international immigration to countries like the UK, USA, Germany and Canada is likely to average about two million people per year. It also predicts a negative population growth in Europe. But what concerns most people is the prediction that fertility rates will fall below 2.1 children per woman in most developed countries. This is the level needed to ensure the long-term replacement of the population. As immigrants are known to have a higher birth rate, this statistic points to a potential alteration in the demography of developed countries. In the UK the impact of a greater rate of birth in Pakistanis and Bangladeshis is already being noticed. The rate has begun to decline in the Indian community with the correspondingly greater economic success and no religious edict against birth control. Sources say that the asylum seekers too would have a higher birth rate and the cumulative effect in years to come would not be very “pleasant” for the British society.
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