DUSHANBE, August 17, 2013, Asia-Plus – Tajikistan’s population, which is growing by 200,000 people a year, is nearing eight million, according to the Agency for Statistics under the President of Tajikistan.

Over the past twenty-one years, the country’s population has reportedly grown by more than 4.2 million people.

Over the first half-year of 2013, the natural growth of population in Tajikistan has been some 78,000 people.

More than 94,000 newborns have been registered in the country over the first six months of this year and little more than 14,000 people have died in Tajikistan over the same six-month period.

Over the report period, the growth in the number of registered newborns has been reported in all regions of the country, except the Sughd province and Dushanbe.

In the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO), there was a 14.1 percent increase in the number of newborns registered within the period established by law (2,200 registered newborns) in January-June 2013, in Khatlon province – 6.1 percent increase (37,300 registered newborns), and districts subordinate to the center – 0.7 percent increase (22,700 registered newborns).

Meanwhile, the number of registered newborns registered within the period established by law decreased by 3.7 percent in Sughd province (26,400 registered newborns) and by 1.9 percent in Dushanbe (5,500 registered newborns).

Over the same six-month period, the number of registered deaths has decreased in Tajikistan by 9.7 percent.  In Gorno Badakhshan, the number of registered deaths has decreased by 21 percent (531), in Sughd by 12.7 percent (5,600), in Khatlon by 10.6 percent (5,300), in Dushanbe by 7.4 percent (1,300), and in districts subordinate to the center by 1.3 percent (3,400).