Demographics

Pakistan had an estimated population of 172,800,000 as of July 2008, making it the world's sixth largest population and placing it higher than Russia and lower than Brazil. Pakistan is expected to have a population of around 208 million by the year 2020 because of the high growth rate. Population projections for Pakistan are relatively difficult because of the apparent differences in the accuracy of each census and the inconsistencies between various surveys related to the fertility rate, but it is likely that the rate of growth peaked in the 1980s and has since declined significantly. The population was estimated at 162,400,000 on 1 July 2005, with a fertility rate of 34 per thousand, a death rate of 10 per thousand, and the rate of natural increase at 2.4%. Pakistan also has a high infant mortality rate of 70 per thousand births.