Consequence of Population Growth

The Consequences of Population Growth The effects of population growth on economic development differ between the developed and developing countries. In the developed countries, population growth has enhanced the growth of such economies because they are wealthy, have abundant capital and scarcity of labour. O n the contrary the consequences of rapid population growth on the development of LDCs are not the same. Most developing countries are poor, capital scarce and labour abundant; and therefore population growth aversely affects their economic development. Precisely every increase in population has led to more problems than benefits. Some of the negative effects of population growth include: High population growth rates require massive investment in Social infrastructure. Due to the shortage of investment funds, social infrastructure like education, health, transport and housing is likely to decrease. This results in overcrowding and declining quality of services and therefore mitigating against an improvement in the quality of the population as agents of production. To counter these problems, there is need for developing countries to expand facilities and increase investment. High population growth rates are seen to have devastating effects on the environment. Rapidly increasing numbers of people puts pressure on the available land and other resources. This therefore prompts the opening up of new farmlands, most of which are ecologically sensitive (e.g. forests, swamps and hillsides.) In many cases, the pressures of population growth force people to obtain more food for themselves and this results in over cultivation and eventually yields reduce. In addition, rural – urban migration and its associated problems are a result of population growth. Population growth depresses savings and capital formation. As population increases, per capita income falls; people are required to feed more children therefore expenditure on consumer goods increases. A rise in