People power: Make room for Africa

DEMOGRAPHY may not be destiny, as the 19th-century philosopher/sociologist Auguste Comte reputably claimed, but few doubt its importance. This helps to explain the recent spate of headlines about the earth’s population passing the eight-billion milestone and about India slipping ahead of China as the world’s most populous country (both India and China have populations of more than 1.4 billion).

Any day now, populations in Asia and elsewhere will hear about another demographic milestone: Vietnam will become the 16th country in the world with more than 100 million people. Seven of the other 15 are in Asia, by the way: India (1), China (2), Indonesia (4), Pakistan (5), Bangladesh (8), Japan (12), and the Philippines (13).

Lest Asians get overly prideful regarding their huge global demographic footprint, another, less-publicised, population issue is worth noting: We likely have reached or already passed “peak Asia” in demographic terms. This statement won’t surprise people in Singapore who have been following population matters closely.