PESHAWAR: Overpopulation is increasingly being recognised as a major driver leading to poverty, unemployment and widening socioeconomic inequalities, casting long shadows over human development in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
As dusk settles over Mohib Banda, a small village in Pabbi tehsil, Nowshera, 28-year-old Shagufta Bibi lights a candle in the corner of her modest kitchen.
The faint glow flickers across worn-out schoolbooks as her children prepare for their matriculation exams. Nearby, a faded photograph rests against a mud wall the only memory she has of her late mother.
Her eyes well up as she recalls the painful cost of her family’s longing for a son. I have three sisters, Shagufta says softly while talking to APP. My parents desperately wanted a boy. My mother died during her fifth pregnancy. That desire took her life and left us without her love.
Shaguftas story is not an isolated tragedy in our society. It signifies across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), where unchecked population growth, deep-rooted socio- cultural norms and limited resources continue to strain families and communities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
According to the United Nations, the global population has surpassed 8.2 billion earlier this year and is projected to reach 10.4 billion by the end of the century. While advances in healthcare have reduced mortality rates, they have also accelerated population growth particularly in developing regions such as South Asia.
Pakistan stands among the most affected countries in terms of population growth. From 75 million in 1951, its population surged to nearly 208 million by 2017 and experts warned it could reach 440 million by 2040 if current trends persist.
With an annual growth rate of 1.91 percent, Pakistan is now the fifth most populous country in the world. This rapid growth is stretching every sector beyond capacity, says Prof. Muhammad Naeem, former chairman of the Economics Department at the University of Peshawar.
Hospitals, colleges, schools, infrastructure, agriculture and job markets are all under immense pressure due to population explosion, he said.
He describes overpopulation as the mother of all socioeconomic ills, linking it to poverty, unemployment, corruption and social injustice further aggravated by the persistent cultural preference for male children.
The consequences are already visible in KP, where recurring climate disasters including the devastating floods of 2022 and 2025 have intensified poverty and displacement. The World Bank warns that between 6 to 9 million Pakistanis could fall into poverty due to climate-related impacts.
Currently, around 20 percent of the population approximately 55 million people live below the poverty line, with underdeveloped and tribal districts suffering the most.
In KP, rising prices of essential commodities like flour and sugar have worsened food insecurity and shrinking natural resources. Public hospitals are overwhelmed, with doctors attending to hundreds of patients daily while government schools lack facilities.
Dr. Malik Riaz, Head of the Children’s Department at Government Hospital Pabbi, highlights the link between high fertility rates and poor health outcomes.
Thirty to forty percent of children suffer from stunting, he explains. This is largely due to poor maternal nutrition and lack of awareness. Many of these cases are preventable with proper reproductive healthcare and access to family planning.
He adds that the critical first six months of a child’s life are often compromised, as mothers themselves are malnourished and physically exhausted.
Recognising the urgency, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Population Welfare Department has introduced its first provincial population policy. The initiative aims to increase contraceptive use and reduce fertility rates from 3.9 to 2.1 births per woman.
The plan includes establishing 260 family welfare centres, deploying mobile health units in remote areas and setting up adolescent reproductive health services. Social taboos, early marriages, poverty and the obsession with male children continue to hinder progress, officials said.
Efforts are also underway to address these challenges at the grassroots level. Psychologists have been deployed in educational institutions across 14 districts, while 3,500 religious scholars are being engaged to promote awareness. In the merged tribal districts, 120 new family planning centres have been approved to expand access to reproductive healthcare.
However, experts stress that policy measures alone are not sufficient. This is a collective issue, says Prof Naeem. Without coordinated efforts from political leaders, civil society, media and religious institutions, meaningful change will remain elusive.
Pakistan’s economy largely dependent on agriculture faces additional strain, as domestic production meets only about 20 percent of food demand, forcing the country to spend nearly $4 billion annually on imports.
Economists emphasise the need for investment in education, healthcare and women empowerment alongside broader economic reforms.
Population control is not a foreign agenda, Prof. Naeem asserts. It is a necessity for survival.
Back in Mohib Banda, Shagufta watches her children study under the dim candlelight, determined to break the poverty cycle. I wish people understood the cost of this race for sons, she says quietly. We lost our mother. No child should have to grow up like that.
For families like hers and for a nation standing at a demographic crossroads the silent crisis of overpopulation is no longer a distant threat. It is already shaping lives, futures and the destiny of generations to come.
Published in Dawn, April 13th, 2026.
