People and populations have long been treated in our country as only a political issue. Rather than worrying about the shocking results of the 2017 census and trying to make them the basis of future planning, political parties and pressure groups chose to raise narrow concerns. Planned parenthood has never been a popular subject in the country. However, trends and projections of Pakistan’s population are once again in the global limelight following the release of the World Population Prospects 2019 by the United Nations Population Division. It says Pakistan will be among the nine countries accounting for half of the projected growth of the global population by 2050. The other eight are India, Nigeria, Congo, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Indonesia, Egypt and the United States. By 2050, that is 31 years from now, the global population is likely to reach 9.7 billion – an enormous raise over the current 7.7 billion. Despite many studies highlighting the harm of rapidly rising populations and the global efforts to raise awareness, several countries have failed to make an iota of progress. Pakistan is among the countries that have registered a double digit growth between 1990 and 2019. In the process, it has moved to the fifth position among the countries with the largest populations. The other country going neck to neck with us in terms of population growth is Nigeria, now the seventh most populous nation. In 1990, it had been 10th on the list. Projections show that India is going to be the most populous country by 2027, surpassing China. The UN report puts Pakistan’s population at 217 million, which is 12 million more than the interim results for the 2017 census. The factors behind the growth are a high fertility rate, life expectancy at birth and international migration trends. The increasing birth rate is a big challenge to sustainable development. In Pakistan, taboos surround discussions on birth control. The governments have not done enough to enlist religious leaders to support the efforts. The current government’s lack of seriousness can be gauged from the budgetary allocations. A meager Rs 5 billion has been allocated for Population Welfare Department in the Punjab. The amount will be spent on salaries of the staff and maintenance of the existing infrastructure. Mother Nature sets its own limits on populations. Disregard of its rules brings into play deadly weapons like famine, starvation, riots, and epidemics. Sanity calls for reasonable behaviours at individual as well as community level. *