Sri Lanka’s population is predicted to expand to an unprecedented 25 million by 2040, Colombo University Senior Professor of Demography Prof. Indralal de Silva said.
“We had earlier predicted that it would peak at 22 million but given the increase in fertility rate, the population is on the rise,” Prof de Silva said. He was addressing the third in the series of UNFPA’s G2G dialogues, titled ‘Shifting Demographics: Development Opportunities for Sri Lanka at Cinnamon Grand in Colombo yesterday. Sri Lanka, according to him is the only country in South Asia which has an increasing fertility rate with more women marrying younger than a decade ago.