Yemen’s population

1 October 2016 | The Times

(Headline by The Times. The letter below is as published. It has a few minor changes from my letter submitted.)

Sir,

Your leader “Yemen’s Forgotten War” (Sep 22) and the letters about Yemen’s war from Stephen Twigg MP (Sep 28) and from James Firebrace and Francis Guy (Sep 29) do not mention the main reason why the war – and the poverty and hunger – will continue: Yemen’s rapid population growth. According to the 2015 revision by the United Nations (to the nearest million), the population of Yemen was 4 million in 1950, 8 million in 1980, 16 million in 1996, and is projected to be 32 million in 2023 – and onwards from there until it is controlled by war, famine, and disease. Some gallant efforts to provide family planning were, I fear, too little and too late.

Gerald Danaher,
Ravenstone, Leics.