From World Bulletin

Ethiopia’s population is projected to hit 90 million this year, the country’s state Central Statistical Agency (CSA) said Friday.

The announcement was made in a press conference by CSA Acting Deputy Director General of Population and Vital Statistics Asalifew Aberra in Addis Ababa on Friday.

In July 2014, the population of Ethiopia stood at around 88 million, making the country the second most populous in Africa.

According to Aberra, the Ethiopian population size comes second only to Nigeria which has a population of over 164 million.

“There is no way Ethiopia’s population can overtake that of Nigeria,” Aberra said, refuting a report by a local newspaper that claimed that Ethiopia’s population would overtake that of Nigeria.

Ethiopia has been implementing a population policy over the past couple of decades through which family planning was expanded to most of the rural areas in the country, he said.

The average fertility rate that hit 7.7 children per mother a few decades ago has now come down to 4.1 children, he said.

“This shows that whereas Ethiopia’s population will continue to grow in the future, the rate of growth would come to be less and less,” he added.

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