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THE DEMOGRAPHIC SITUATION IN UZBEKISTAN IN LIGHT OF SOCIAL SECURITY
Ludmila MAKSAKOVA
D.Sc. (Econ.), Chief Researcher at the Institute of Economics, the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan (Tashkent, Uzbekistan)
Introduction
Demographic development issues in today's world are undeniably important. The rapid growth of the world's population, shortage of resources, and increase in migration are creating numerous difficulties in affording a dignified
standard and quality of life on the planet. The size of a country's population, its distribution, and its gender-age composition frequently come forward as strategic factors in economic development and the formation of its future parameters.
The demographic situation takes shape during population reproduction, the intensity of which determines the size and gender-age composition of the population, as well as the dynamics of its changes. It is characterized by several demographic indicators that have been prevailing in a particular territory over a specific period of time. The main ones are the birth rate, death rate, migration, marriages, and divorces. As the world becomes globalized, promoting a favorable demographic situation that maintains a balance among the interests of family, society, and the state is very important for the social stability and national security of any country.
Demographic security is the most important component of social security. It reflects the level of the state's protection from demographic threats, that is, from phenomena and trends that could have a negative effect on the country's social stability
and sustainable development. This concept is relatively new. According to several specialists, the demographic crisis in a whole number of countries, particularly industrially developed ones, which in some cases has escalated into a demographic catastrophe, has made it necessary to place demographic security in a separate category on an equal footing with economic, military, social, and other forms of security.1
This article examines the demographic situation in Uzbekistan from the viewpoint of global demographic development, as well as in the light of the possible risks and threats that might appear with respect to the republic's social security.
1 See: A.G. Vishnevskiy, G.S. Vitkovskaia, et al., Migratsiia i bezopasnost v Rossii, Interdialekt, Moscow,
2000, p. 56.
Optimization of Demographic Growth
Demographic growth is a universal problem. The extreme population growth in some countries and depopulation in others are creating different aspects of demographic security, which is essentially the most important component of social and national security.
Uzbekistan is a state with a growing population. At the beginning of 2012, more than 29 million people lived there. In terms of the size of its demographic potential, Uzbekistan is the third largest state in the CIS after Russia and Ukraine. During the years of independence, the size of the republic's population has increased by more than 8 million people (see Fig. 1).
Population growth at this time occurred in waves. In the 1990s, the average annual growth rates dropped to 1.2-1.3% against 2.8-3.0% in the 1980s. At the beginning of the new century, the rates remained at the level of 1.1-1.2%, but in 2004-2009, they rose slightly to 1.6-1.7%. Nevertheless, despite a certain amount of change in the population reproduction regime during these 4-5 years, the general trend toward a slowdown in demographic growth continues. It is characteristic both of urban and rural settlements. According to the estimates, in the past three years, the number of urban residents increased on average by 1.2-1.3% a year and the number of rural residents by 1.7-1.8%.2
The data presented show that at present the republic's demographic situation is characterized by moderate population growth, which is caused by the impact of all the transformations that have occurred in economic and social relations, as well as the change in the reproductive behavior of the population expressed in a decline in the birth rate.
2 Calculated according to comparable data for the urban and rural population. - 22 -
Figure 1
Size of the Permanent Population at the Beginning of the Year (thou. people)
ir
35,000
30,000
25,000
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000
T
E
E
E
1991 1995 2000 2005 2009 2010 2011
EH Population Able-bodied population
S o u r c e: Data of the State Statistics Board of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
J
New Trends in Population Reproduction
The republic's current demographic development is being shaped by a downward trend in the birth rate. This development has experienced several waves and fluctuations mainly determined by the birth rate dynamics. When Uzbekistan acquired its sovereignty, it had a very high birth rate: the crude birth rate amounted to 34.5 per mille, while the aggregate rate was 4.199 children per woman of reproductive age; however, by 2010 these indices had decreased to 22.7 per mille3 and 2.6, respectively. The continuous drop in fertility continued for more than 10 years. According to the State Statistics Board of the Republic of Uzbekistan, between 1991 and 2003, the crude birth rate decreased to 19.7 per mille, while the aggregate rate dropped to 2.4. However, in 2004 it began to rise, which was related to a whole number of factors. This was when women born during the peak fertility years in the mid-1980s reached active childbearing age. A particular role was also played by families who for
0
3 See: Socioeconomic Status of the Republic of Uzbekistan for 2010, State Statistics Board, Tashkent, 2011, p. 18.
economic reasons decided to put off having children in the 1990s. Later people began to feel a new confidence in the future. Altogether this produced an upsurge in the birth rate in 2004-2008. During this time, the crude birth rate rose to 23.6 per mille, while the aggregate rate increased to 2.8 children per woman of reproductive age.
At present, several viewpoints are popular in the country regarding further birth rate dynamics, including its possible rise in the future. In our opinion, due to the changes in the republic itself and keeping in mind the global trends, Uzbekistan will most likely not return to a high rate of fertility. 2008 may go down in history as the year the birth rate peaked, particularly since in recent years, the statistics have been registering a drop in fertility. In 2010, the crude birth rate dropped to 22.7 and in 2011 to 21.5 per mille, while the aggregate rate was 2.4. The birth rate is declining both in cities and in rural areas (see Fig. 2). Even during the peak, only 4.4-4.5% of the total number of newborns accounted for fifth or later children in families compared to 15.3% in 1989.4 Women today are giving birth to an average of one child less by the age of 30 than 20 years ago, which shows the stability of the new trends and their possible intensification in the foreseeable future.
Figure 2
Dynamics of the Aggregate Birth Rate
In present-day Uzbekistan, the population's views on the optimal and desirable number of children in the family have significantly changed. According to polls conducted in the mid-1980s, 60% of the respondents expressed the desire to have 5 or 6 children, 22% wanted six or seven, 12% up to ten,
4 Calculated according to the data of the State Statistics Board of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
and only 6% wanted no more than four children.5 Ten years later, the picture had dramatically changed: 60% of the polled couples planned to have between one and four children, and only a small number of rural women were traditionally oriented toward having a large number of children.6 Furthermore, many young women thought two or three children in family was optimal.
These trends in the population's reproductive plans are sufficiently stable. According to the studies carried out by the Izhtimoiy Fikr Republican Center, in 2011, more than 60% of the republic's population (including 68.0% in cities and 58.5% in rural areas) planned to have 2-3-children families and only 2.6% wanted five and more children.7 Such family planning trends are realistically reflected in the official statistics. According to the State Statistics Board of the Republic of Uzbekistan, in 2011, for example, most (72.3%) of the newborns were first or second children in the family, while third and later children among mothers accounted for only 27.7%.
The birth rate in the republic is being increasingly regulated within the family. At present, the state is pursuing a policy aimed at bolstering family relations and improving the health of mothers and the upcoming generation oriented toward a fertility model based on rational choice, which is showing realistic results.
In terms of birth rate, present-day Uzbekistan already differs significantly from several countries with which it recently had identical parameters. These are a whole number of countries of Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Southeast and Central Asia, in which the aggregate birth rate is still within the range of 3-4 children per woman of reproductive age.8
Uzbekistan in World Demographic Development
Population development in Uzbekistan is following the world demographic patterns, the general trend being from high to low parameters of reproduction. As world experience shows, all the countries of the world go through certain stages of demographic evolution or transition. The first of them is characterized by a high birth and death rate, a high number of large families, and one generation rapidly replacing another. At the second stage, social progress and health achievements cause a severe drop in the population's mortality, however, the birth rate remains high, which leads to an abrupt and uncontrolled increase in the size of the population. Uzbekistan, like most countries of the world, has already passed through these two stages and is currently at the third stage when, owing to the young structure of the population, the crude death rate remains low and is accompanied by accelerated rates of decline in the birth rate. Furthermore, population growth is greatly slowing down, as mentioned above. All the CIS countries of Central Asia and the Southern Caucasus are currently at this stage. At the fourth stage, the death rate is higher than the birth rate and depopulation occurs, that is, an absolute decrease in the size of the population based on the natural trend and rapid demographic aging. Depopulation creates certain risks and threats to those states in terms of demographic and social security, since their need to maintain an able-bodied workforce essentially makes them dependent on other countries. Many European countries, as well as Russia, Ukraine, and the Baltic republics, are currently at this stage.
5 See: Human Development Report, Uzbekistan, 1995, p. 48.
6 See: Ibidem.
7 See: Semya i nravstvennost, Tashkent, 2011.
8 See: State of World Population 2003, Investing in Adolescents' Health and Rights, UNFPA, 2003, pp. 86-89.
Based on the above description, the third stage of demographic transition is the most favorable for forming an optimal demographic situation. However, the gap between the third and fourth stages is often very narrow. This is confirmed by the rapid shift to the depopulation stage in numerous CIS countries, particularly Moldavia, Georgia, and Armenia, as well as Kazakhstan in Central Asia.
At present, Uzbekistan occupies a middle position in world demographic development in terms of birth rate among countries with high (a crude birth rate of more than 25 per mille) and low (up to 15 per mille) indices.9
Family and Family-Marital Relations
In Uzbekistan, the family and children are traditionally the most esteemed things in life. A healthy family is the basis of a future healthy generation and creates the necessary prerequisites for high-quality population reproduction and upbringing of the younger generation. It is no accident that 2012 has been declared the Year of the Family in Uzbekistan at this unstable time when the country has still not recovered from the world financial, economic, and debt crises. Drawing special attention to the Year of the Family is aimed at further strengthening and developing the institution of family as the main fulcrum in society, raising the wellbeing of the family, and providing material and moral support to young families, particularly among the vulnerable strata of the population. Furthermore, the most important task is to create broader opportunities for women and raise the role of the family in bringing up a physically healthy, spiritually mature, and harmoniously developed generation.10
In keeping with the national mentality, the marriage rate in the republic is very high. Despite the changes going on in the world in types of marriage and the various new trends in family-marital relations, the population of Uzbekistan prefers to live in officially registered marriages, which are frequently underpinned by religious rituals ("nikokh"). According to the sociological polls conducted in 2010 by the Institute of Social Studies under the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan, 90% of the family members polled are currently in an officially registered marriage, 0.6% are in a civil marriage, 2% are divorced, and 5% are widowed.11 According to the State Statistics Board of the Republic of Uzbekistan, in 2000-2010, 2,283,400 marriages were registered, that is, the total number of newly-weds during this time topped 4.5 million people. Furthermore, the number of registered marriages increased 1.7-fold, the number of divorces dropped 10%, and the divorce rate decreased from 0.8 to 0.6 per mille. This is one of the lowest indices in the world.
Uzbekistan's high marriage rate accompanied by a low divorce rate favorably distinguishes it from most countries of the world. Maintaining the most optimal family-marital relations has led to achieving and preserving commendable patterns of family life and an overall healthier way of life for young people. This is shown by the fact that young people consume much less alcohol and use fewer drugs in the republic, while the HIV/AIDS morbidity level is one of the lowest in the world.12
9 See: World Population Data Sheet, Population Reference Bureau, 2010.
10 See: Narodnoe slovo, 20 January, 2010.
11 See: T. Akhmedov, B. Abdullaev, D. Zakirov, "Sotsialno-ekonomicheskie aspekty razvitiia semey v Uzbekistane,"
in: Demograficheskoe razvitie Respubliki Uzbekistan za gody nezavisimosti, Tashkent, 2011, p. 109.
12 See: World Population Data Sheet, 2010.
Young People are Marrying at an Older Age
In recent years, the average age of first time brides and grooms in Uzbekistan has been getting older. According to the State Statistics Board of the Republic of Uzbekistan, between 2000 and 2010 alone it rose among men from 24.2 to 26.5 and among women from 21.4 to 22.4 years. These dynamics are characteristic of many countries of the contemporary world. For example, in Russia over the past 30 years, the average age for marrying increased from 26.3 to 29.3 in men and from 24.3 to 26.6 in women.13 In Germany over the past fifteen years, it has increased by 5.4 years among men and reached 36.9 and by 5.0 years among women; German women on average get married at the age of 33.8.14
A comparative analysis shows that the population of Uzbekistan usually marries at a younger age than in most other countries of the world. At the same time, despite the impact of many new trends and young people choosing to marry at a slightly older age, the average age at which women give birth to their first child is decreasing, from 23.3 in 2000 to 22.6 in 2010. However, globalization and free development are promoting increasing integration of the republic's young people into world processes (study and internships abroad, international forms of business, tourist and business trips, and so on), so it stands to reason that they are oriented to a certain extent toward Western standards. Based on this, it can be expected that couples in Uzbekistan will also choose to marry at an older age, thus prompting a further (and perhaps even more significant) increase in the average marrying age.
Improvement in the Age Composition of the Population
The new trends in population reproduction are having a favorable qualitative effect on the age composition of the population. This is particularly noticeable in the dynamics of population correlation in the main age groups (see Fig. 3). The percentage of able-bodied contingents in the total number of residents is increasing (from 49.1% in 1991 to 60.3% today), while the share of children and adolescents under 16 is decreasing from 43.1% to 32.4%, respectively.15
The shifts in age composition of the population not only have demographic, but also economic consequences that are directly influencing both the qualitative population indices and the quality of life. They primarily promote an increase in the republic's labor potential (see Fig. 1). The size of the working population during these years has greatly surpassed the increase in the total population size, which is a real prerequisite for accelerating economic growth. At the same time, the demographic load on the working population is decreasing. According to the estimates, between 1991 and 2010, it dropped from 1,036 to 652 people per mille of the working population, that is, 1.6-fold.
13 See: Naselenie Rossii 2009, Higher School of Economics Publishers, Moscow, 2011, p. 67.
14 See: V. Tyshkevich, Osnovnye napravleniia issledovanii semeynogo domokhoziaystva v sovremennoy sotsialnoy rynochnoy ekonomike na primere Germanii, MAKS-Press, Moscow, 2009, p. 41.
15 See: Demographic Yearbook of Uzbekistan, 2003, Statistics Collection, State Statistics Board of Uzbekistan, Tashkent, 2004, p. 38; Data of the State Statistics Board of the Republic of Uzbekistan for 2009.
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ST
Figure 3
Age Composition of the Population (%)
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
1991
1995
2000
2005
2010
0-15
16-54(59)
54(59) and older
S o u r c e: Data of the State Statistics Board of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
As world experience shows, such shifts in the age composition of the population give countries additional opportunities to invest in the younger generations. On the whole throughout the country, this could promote an acceleration in economic growth and increase in prosperity, and provide some families with resources for investing in their children. To a certain extent, this is also confirmed by Uzbekistan's experience, where along with an improvement in the demographic situation, economic development has been outstripping population growth for more than 10 years now. In 2010, for example, the GDP rose by 8.5%, while the population only grew by 1.6%. Due to the increase in production volumes, the development of the service sphere, as well as the decrease in demographic load, incomes and the standard of living are rising. In 1990, it was the other way around: population growth was 4.2-fold higher than economic growth.
As a rule, a drop in the birth rate is inevitably accompanied by demographic aging, and this has numerous negative sociodemographic consequences. In Uzbekistan, aging processes are occurring almost imperceptibly. In 2010, people 65 years and older accounted for only 5% of the population, while in other countries of the world as a whole, they accounted for 8%, in Western Europe for 18%, and in Russia and North America for 13-14%.16
0
16 See: World Population Data Sheet, 2010.
- 28
In Uzbekistan, demographic aging processes are not yet arousing serious concern. Nevertheless, they are already occurring and are being manifested in the gradual decrease in the number of children and adolescents in the age composition of the population (aging from below). Aging of the population is presenting a significant threat to the country since it could lead to a decrease in the working population with all the ensuing consequences. According to specialists, demographic aging is no less of a threat than a high birth rate and rapid population growth. Based on this, a drop in the growth rate of the working population expected in the near future (from 2.7-2.8% today to 0.8-0.9%) presents a certain threat to the republic's social security. This will happen as the result of the sufficiently extended drop in the birth rate in the 1990s. According to estimates, the intensiveness of generation replacement, that is, the ratio of the number of young people reaching working age to the number of people reaching retirement, will significantly drop in the period under forecast: from 3.9:1 today to 1.7:1 in 2020.
According to the international classification system, at present Uzbekistan has a young population. The average age of the country's residents is 25. On the whole, the current age composition shows the potential for favorable development of the demographic situation and ensures the republic's demographic security in the future.
Drop in the Death Rate of the Population and Increase in Life Expectancy
A relatively low death rate is characteristic of Uzbekistan, which is due to the specifics of the population's age composition and the favorable ratio of young to old people. For example, in Uzbekistan, the percentage of the population older than working age with relatively high mortality amounts to only 7.3%, while in Russia, Ukraine, and the West European countries, it is more than 20%. Standardized death rate coefficients, that is, calculated without the influence of the age composition, show that in Uzbekistan, the death rate did not significantly differ from other Central Asian republics and many countries in the CIS. Nevertheless, rather noticeable quantitative and qualitative changes are going on in these processes. On the whole, they can be assessed as positive. There is drop in the death rate in all the childhood, adolescent, and youth age groups and in essentially all the other age groups of the population.
In the first years of independent development, the death rate of the republic's population was formed under the relatively strong impact of the difficulties of the transition period. However, in the second half of the 1990s and subsequent years, a clear trend toward a drop in the death rate was seen, which had an impact on the dynamics of both the absolute and relative indices. The crude death rate compared to 1991 dropped from 6.2 per mille17 to 4.9 per mille.18 At present, in terms of both the crude death rate and individual coefficients, Uzbekistan is one of the highest ranking countries in the world. In the past 10 years, the number of deaths in Uzbekistan has decreased by almost 10%. The number of annual deaths is 4.0-4.2 times lower than the number of births (see Fig. 4).
The infant mortality situation has significantly improved. According to the national calculation method, its level dropped from 35.1 per mille in 1990 to 10.8 per mille in 2010,19 i.e. by almost
17 See: Demographic Yearbook of Uzbekistan 1991-2003, Statistics Collection, Uzbekistan, Tashkent, 2004, p. 109.
18 See: Socioeconomic Status of the Republic of Uzbekistan in 2010, State Statistics Board, Tashkent, 2011, p. 18.
19 See: Ibid., p. 19.
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Figure 4
Ratio of Births to Deaths (thou. people)
ST
800 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 0
723.4
678
130.3
646.4
651.3
600.9
527.6
538
555.9
143.4
135.6
139
139.6
137.4
137.4
642.1
133.6
137.5
1 I I I I I I I I
1991 1995 2000 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
□ Births
Deaths
S o u r c e: Data of the State Statistics Board of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
3.5-fold. At present, this is the lowest index throughout the Central Asian region. However, according to international reporting standards, the methodology of which significantly differs from the one used in the republic, the infant mortality rate in Uzbekistan looks less favorable, particularly compared to the West European countries. This means that despite the significant positive shifts, the infant mortality rate remains high. The comparative data presented show there is room for improving this index. In the most developed countries of the world, infant mortality is much lower—in the Scandinavian countries it amounts to 4-5 per mille and in Japan to only 3 per mille.20
At present, Uzbekistan has one of the most favorable maternal mortality rates calculated according to international standards. On the whole throughout the world, it amounts to 400 cases per 100,000 live births, while in the republic it is 24. In Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, for example, the maternal mortality rate is much higher than in Uzbekistan.21
The drop in death rate in the republic is due to the fact that during reform of the economy, great attention has been given to the social development, support, and protection of the vulnerable strata of the population. The death rate is not only an indicator of the demographic situation, it is a good reflec-
20 See: World Population Data Sheet, 2004.
21 See: World Mortality, 2009. United Nation, Economic and Social Affairs, 2009; State of World Population in 2011,
UNFPA, 2011, p. 129.
tion of the socioeconomic development of the state and state of health of its citizens. Based on this, questions of health, reproductive health, drop in the death rate, and increase in average life expectancy are the main priorities of the republic's social policy and are constantly monitored by government bodies and public health institutions.
The acceleration in economic growth and drop in the death rate ensure an increase in the average life expectancy of men and women. According to the State Statistics Board of the Republic of Uzbekistan, in 1990 it reached 69.2 years22; during the republic's independence, it has significantly increased. In 2010, it was 72.9, whereby 70.6 for men and 75.1 for women.23 The decrease in the gender gap in average life expectancy from 5.4 to 4.5 years is also a positive development. This is a very important trend since men throughout the world have a shorter life span than women. In Russia, for example, the gender gap in life expectancy is about 14 years.24
So during the past twenty years, there have been sufficiently perceptible positive changes in the republic's demographic situation that are directly influencing both the qualitative population indices and the quality of life. From the viewpoint of social and national security, the current demographic situation does not present any particular threats, it is sufficiently stable and is developing positively. The size of the population, its gender-age composition, the ratio of deaths to births, the current population reproduction regime, and the new trends in its changes show Uzbekistan's powerful demographic potential and the relatively good opportunities for its development in the future.
Nevertheless, the country needs to focus on promoting a further decrease in the death rate indices and increase in average life expectancy. This was a main priority envisaged in the Action Program adopted at the International Conference on Population and Development held in Cairo to be implemented nationwide.
Decrease in the Migration Outflow of the Population beyond the Republic
From the viewpoint of social security, the current migration situation in Uzbekistan is relatively stable. The peak of migration outflow from the country has long passed; it came at the turn of the 1990s. In subsequent periods, the republic experienced several migration waves (see Fig. 5).
They were mainly determined by ethnic migration of the population (Russians, Ukrainians, Crimean Tatars, Jews, Germans, and others) to their historical homeland. In recent years, as a result of implementing a state policy of social and political consent in society and prevention of ethnic conflicts, the outflow of the population began to consistently drop and in 2010 amounted to only 39,600 people.25 This means that at present emigration processes have reached the parameters that were characteristic of the republic 25-30 years ago.
22 See: Human Development Report. Uzbekistan—2005, UNDR, Center for Economic Research, Tashkent, 2005,
p. 105.
23 See: Narodnoe slovo, 13 December, 2011.
24 See: Naselenie Rossii 2009, p. 183.
25 See: Socioeconomic Status of the Republic of Uzbekistan for 2010, p. 19.
Figure 5
Migration Outflow of the Population from the Republic of Uzbekistan
Interstate Migration of the Workforce as a Risk and Threat Factor for Demographic and Social Security
At present, labor migration of the population has acquired rather significant proportions in Uzbekistan. There is an increasing number of families in the republic in which the young generation of men periodically leave the republic to earn a living.
Labor migration should expediently be viewed from both positive and negative perspectives. On the one hand, it has great economic significance for Uzbekistan. Most important, it reduces tension in the local labor markets, particularly in densely populated regions, and helps to ease unemployment. The remittances of labor migrants are also extremely important. According to the estimates, the current volume of remittances into the republic, keeping in mind official and unofficial sources, is no less than three billion dollars.
On the other hand, labor migration has negative consequences.
It drains the republic's labor market of its young workers. Many of these people have higher and secondary special education, as well as professional skills that are lost during migration, since migrants in the host countries are mainly hired for the least qualified jobs. The negative consequences in the social and demographic respect are just as important. Mainly young and middle-aged people partici-
pate in migration. Most of the migrants have families. The long absence of one or several members of the family undermines the established family relations. According to poll data, many migrants rarely communicate with their families left at home, and every fourth noted that long separation from the family creates family problems, destroying the formerly good relations in the family. Mass labor migration has a negative effect on the family composition of the population, to a certain extent on the reproduction regime, as well as on the state of health of the migrants.
Studies show that mass labor migration of the population from the republic can continue for a while longer. In these conditions, it is important to protect its labor potential quantitatively and qualitatively. Achieving more efficient international cooperation could promote these aims. Both the sending and receiving countries would do well to draw up strategies that make it easier and more dignified to work abroad and envisage the elaboration of new approaches to organized labor migration.
In current conditions, labor migration has acquired global dimensions, which requires an increase in the attention of the administration bodies in each country to this important social and demographic problem. According to U.N. experts, in order to maximize the benefits and reduce the risks of population migration, countries should:
■ view migration as a development tool and an important source of capital;
■ recognize migration as an essential and inevitable component of the economic and social life of every state;
■ ensure orderly and properly managed migration.26
Conclusion
As the studies show, the current demographic situation in Uzbekistan is quite stable and positive. Essentially all the quantitative development indices are very favorable. The size of the population, its gender-age composition, the births to deaths ratio, and the current population reproduction regime show Uzbekistan's powerful demographic potential and its development opportunities in the future. Improvement of the demographic situation has had a direct impact on the qualitative aspects of the population's development. An increase in the labor potential and decrease in demographic load on the working population are real prerequisites for accelerating economic growth, reproducing healthy and harmoniously developed generations, and raising the standard and quality of life of the population.
However, despite the doubtless positive shifts in the economic and demographic situation in Uzbekistan, globalization and accelerated modernization of the national economy are making the qualitative aspects of demographic development more important. The quality of school education, professional education of young people, intellectualization of labor potential, and the quality of life are becoming increasing priorities. There are certain problems in public health, reproductive health, and family planning. A further decrease should be promoted in infant and child mortality. More workers are going abroad to earn a living.
Based on the need to maintain demographic security, which directly influences the state of the country's social and national security, it is expedient to focus greater attention on further improvement of the demographic situation, carry out permanent monitoring of the demographic processes,
26 See: State of World Population in 2011, UNFPA, 2011, p. 79.
and, keeping in mind global problems, ensure timely identification of the threats and risks that might lead to negative consequences for the republic. Great efforts are also required to achieve higher goals in demographics ensuring from the Millennium Development Goals envisaged by the U.N.
