BAGUIO CITY – At the current growth rate, the Philippines’ population may reach 184.4 million by 2040 to place it on 10th place as the most populated country, the Population Commission (PopCom) said Saturday.

PopCom Executive Director Tomas Osias said that with the country’s rapid population growth, the government needs to adopt appropriate adolescent reproductive health practices to prevent over population which could result to pressing problems, such as scarcity of food and water supply and over development in both rural and urban centers.

Currently, the Philippines has a population of 92.2 million and the said figures will eventually double in 31 years to place the country in 10th spot.

The PopCom official revealed that the country’s population growth rate is 2.04 percent annually but the same could increase further if the government could not implement appropriate measures to significantly reduce the rather high growth rate.

Even if the country’s growth rate is on a downward trend because of the massive information and education campaign on artificial and natural birth control methods, population experts cited the same would not mean a decrease in the country’s population since the country has a very high incremental rate and lots of children.

Full Story: Manila Bulletin/Yahoo PH