DEMOGRAPHIC-TRENDS IN VIETNAM

The population of Vietnam was estimated at about 13 million at the beg inning of the century. By 1955 it had doubled to 27 million, and it do ubled again during the following 25 years to reach 53 million in 1980, following the mortality decline since the turn of the century - accom plished, despite a long period of deadly wars which, with consistently high birth rates (over 40 per 1000) - resulted in an accelerated rate of growth. The extraordinary population density in some areas (more t han 1000 per sq. km. in certain rural areas of the Red River delta) le d to concern by the Vietnamese government, which adopted a series of m easures designed to encourage Vietnamese women to limit their fertilit y. This policy was reinforced and extended to the entire country after reunification. Combined with a gradual change in attitudes, it reduce d total fertility by more than one-third in less than one generation: from more than six to fewer than four children per woman between the e arly 1970s and the late 1980s. This period coincided with an outflow o f population, as more than two million fled from the communist regime, especially between 1978 and 1981. This trend continues to affect the age and sex distribution of the population, but recent projections sug gest that the shape of the population pyramid will gradually revert to normal.