Countries with smaller populations have higher living standards
It is all too clear that the lack of interest in population demographics by some developing countries is their bane. Aside from mismanagement and corruption, the lack of specific interest in the dynamics of populations may suggest insincerity and a lack of foresight in any quest to improve on living standards of people by political administrations.
Most governments in developing countries have presented annual budgets in parliaments without an express reference to the population calculus. This erodes credibility in stated intentions to put the people on the path of progress.
With resources or new discoveries either regimented or growing at a snail’s pace in less developed countries, it is jaw-dropping why governments are mute on rapid population growth rates. This is because population growth without a commensurate increase in resources or revenue, the lesser the quality of life as money per head in the population diminishes. See below the statistics on 10 countries and judge for yourself.
Equatorial Guinea, year 2008, total population 1.3 million, GDP per capita income $14,941
Gabon, year 2008, total population 1.5 million, GDP per capita income $9,986
Rwanda, year 2008, total population of 9.6 million, GDP per capita income $464
Angola, year 2008, total population 16.8 million, GDP per capita income $4,961
Bostwana, year 2008, total population 1.8 million, GDP per capita income $7,554
Nigeria, year 2008, total population 148 million, GDP per capita income $1,450
Ghana, year 2008, total population 22.5 million, GDP per capita income $715
Qatar, year 2008, total population 1.1 million, GDP per capita income $93,204
Saudi Arabia, year 2008, total population 24.9 million, GDP per capita income $19,345
Kenya, year 2008, total population 35.9 million, GDP per capita income $857
GDP Per Capita Income is the amount of money each individual will get when national revenue or the value of total output produced by a particular country is shared among the populace.
The simplest way of figuring out this conundrum is to liken it to the situation in a family or household. If the breadwinner’s income remained the same over a long period, or at best, increased only marginally whilst the income earner gave birth to more children, that would only mean more mouths to feed with dwindling resources.
The next time a government budget is read out without concern about population growth, know that amounts to shooting into darkness. When the population comes into the frame, nobody would tell officials to ease from their lofty places to the basement of society to query or find solutions to a given teenage pregnancy in some village. Such occurrences only swell the population and eat up resources, or in the absence of such a support plunge that household down the poverty line.
