On population growth in Syria
Rate of population growth average in Syria reached 2.37% during the period from 1995 to 2000, on the ground that foreign migration net is Zero.
This was noted in the meeting held by experts of the State Planning Commission in Syria and the central bureau for statistics as well as the UN, recently held in Damascus under the chairmanship of the Minister of State for Planning Issam al-Zaem after discussing four alternatives for the population growth average in Syria, offered by the UN population program which said that the average of population growth in Syria is estimated at 2.17%.
ESCWA ( The Economic and Scientific Committee for West Asia) estimated the population growth at 2.19%, technical and experts of the central bureau for statistics and the state planning commission which both estimated population growth average at 2.37% and 2.7% on the ground that foreign migration net is positive during the said period ( 1995- 2000).
The Participants in the meeting adopted a population growth average of 2.37% submitted by the Syrian central bureau for statistics and the state planning commission because it is technically accepted and embarked on advanced data, on the ground that foreign migration net is Zero ( no foreign migration) due to the fact that there no precise figures on number of emigrants leaving or coming back to the country.
The representatives of the central bureau for statistics noted migration back into Syria during the beginning of the second half of the 1990 s that led to the population growth increase during that period to 2.7%. The bureau expected the increase in population growth to 2.46 during the period extended from 1995 to 2000 due to the fact that most of the population are in " the reproductive age." Al-Zaem underlined the importance of reaching a united figure for the population growth level in Syria especially for the long, intermediate and short strategic plans to be able to draw precise figures on comprehensive development plans.
The meeting was attended by representatives for the UNFPA, the UNFPA supporting office in Amman, ESCWA and several technicians from the central bureau for statistics, the state planning commission and Damascus university.