The Social Development Division of ESCAP and the Asia Pacific Regional Office of UNFPA co-organized an Expert Group Meeting (EGM) on the “Asia-Pacific Population and Development Report 2023” which took place at the United Nations Conference Center in Bangkok from 13 to 14 June 2023.

The EGM was organized in preparation for the Seventh Asian and Pacific Population Conference to be held at ESCAP from 15 to 17 November 2023. The EGM reviewed a draft of the Asia-Pacific Population and Development Report 2023, the basis for the deliberations at the Population Conference. The EGM ensured that the draft is relevant, comprehensive, of high quality, and that it can effectively inform the Population Conference.

The Asia-Pacific region is home to 60 per cent of the world’s population. It is undergoing a momentous transition from younger, more rural populations to older, more urban ones. While sharing some general trends, other population levels and trends differ across subregions and countries. The size, structure and dynamics of regional populations influence and are influenced by economic and social development, climate change, natural disasters and conflicts.

The Asia-Pacific Population and Development Report 2023 intends to provide an overview of these trends and discuss interlinkages of different population and development issues. The report will also contain conclusions and recommendations for ensuring that population and development concerns are at the center of sustainable development, in line with the 2013 Asian and Pacific Ministerial Declaration on Population and Development and the Programme of Action of the International Conference for Population and Development in Asia and the Pacific.