Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines Dr Ralph Gonsalves says his country’s birth rate is falling and believes women need to have a few more children to replenish the stagnant population.
He touched on the topic during a media conference on Monday while speaking about SVG’s progress and at the same time, some of its challenges.
Gonsalves said: “Because of our successes in education and greater opportunities for women and the whole thrust of modernity, that women particularly between 25 and 35, we need them to have a few more children because the population, the birth rate is falling…it supposed to have 2.1 on an average to keep the population going.
I’m talking practical things you know otherwise the civilisation will wither. We have to replenish the population, and the population is stagnant and its getting older and I’m very happy its getting older, people living longer… but you have to have it replenished. It can’t be replenished by people from Mars, it has to be replenished by real flesh and blood women.
It doesn’t matter how many different kinds of subdivision of genders people want to have, nobody else figure out a way other than women having children. That’s the reality.
It’s a problem I know to balance your professional life with life of motherhood, but this is how the civilisation has to find a way of replenishing itself and advancing.”
According to Statista, a global data and business intelligence platform with an extensive collection of statistics, reports, and insights, St Vincent and the Grenadines has a population of just over 103,000 people.
According to Statista’s birth rate information for St Vincent and the Grenadines from 2011 to 2021, the crude birth rate in St Vincent and the Grenadines saw no significant changes in 2021 in comparison to the previous year 2020 (13.07 live births per 1,000 inhabitants) and remained at around 12.9 live births per 1,000 inhabitants. Yet 2021 saw the lowest birth rate in St Vincent and the Grenadines with 12.9 live births per 1,000 inhabitants.
The birth rate in 2011 was 16.48 live births per 1,000 inhabitants.
In addition, according to Statista’s fertility rate information from 2011 to 2021, in 2021 the total fertility rate in St Vincent and the Grenadines was around 1.8 children per woman. But still, the fertility rate reached its lowest value of the observation period in 2021.
The fertility rate in 2011 was 2.1 children per woman.