The United Nations Fund for Population estimates that by year 2010, the population in the Dominican Republic will have increased to 9.7 million. At the end of last year, the population of the Dominican Republic was 8.3 million. By year 2025, the UN sets the Dominican population at 11.2 million, 50% when compared to the present population. Furthermore, the organization forecasts the DR will double its population in 32 years. Dominican population in 1950 was 2.1 million, which means that in the past 50 years, the number of inhabitants has quadrupled. This high population high growth situation contrasts with Cuba, which will need 100 years to double its population. Data contained in a report from the "Population Reference Bureau" indicates that the DR has one of the highest birth rates in the Caribbean, or 2.7 births per 100 people. Only Grenada (2.9 births) and Haiti (3.4 births) have higher birth rates in the Caribbean. Birth control only covers 64% of women in marital or consensual union. Gilka Meléndez, speaking for the organization, told Hoy newspaper that social inequity, high population density, lack of urban planning, an alarming growth rate and migration will leave marks on the DR. Meléndez, speaking during a population workshop organized by the Consejo Nacional de Población y Familia, with the support of the United Nations, alerted to the importance of making decisions now. She alerted to the effects of population growth. She pointed out that while the DR still has a relatively low density of 170 inhabitants per square kilometer, its neighbor Haiti has a density of 279 inhabitants per square kilometer. "That is why the Dominican government needs to establish what the country wants: if it wants immigrants, what kind and for which labor sector."
