RP population jump eroding economic growth

RP population jump eroding economic growth

PHILIPPINES: The population of the Philippines is growing so quickly that it is wiping out the effect of economic growth rates, officials said on Wednesday.

Southeast Asia's only Catholic nation has one of the world's highest population growth rates this year at 2.3 percent, compared with 1.3 percent globally, according to a United Nations report released on Wednesday.

"On a 3.3 percent (GDP) growth rate expected this year, it's not scintillating because it's only a one percent growth in real per capita income," said Dante Canlas, the country's socio- economic planning secretary.

But large families remained desirable among many of the country's 76 million people, officials said. The ranks of the country's poor are swelling. --Reuters