(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Coinciding with the 44th National Day the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI) recently published its 'Population and Development' report.
It highlights the conditions of the sultanate's population and the developments witnessed based on issues discussed at the International Conference on Population and Development held in Cairo in 1994. Oman was among the first countries to implement recommendations of the conference and take the action required to achieve the goals.
Going by the statistics provided in the report a majority of Omani population – 47 per cent – is in the productive age group of 15-34 years while only three per cent is aged above 65 years. This distribution shows that demographically the sultanate can have major achievements if the population is well prepared to participate in the development process.
According to the report the population of Oman had reached 3.99mn by June 2014 with 22 per cent of Omanis aged under 15 years. Twenty eight per cent is aged between 35 and 64 years.
It says that the government has paid great attention to education and had significantly reduced the illiteracy rate to 13 per cent by 2010 compared to 31 per cent in 1993.
Additionally the net rate of students joining classes one to six increased from 87 per cent in 1993 to 96 per cent in 2012 and the rates of students joining classes seven to nine increased from 49 per cent in 1993 to 83 per cent in 2012.
With emphasis on the youths' role in the nation's development especially with 33 per cent of the population being in the 15-29 years bracket the rates of students joining classes 10-12 increased to 77.7 per cent in 2012 compared to 34 per cent in 1993. Meanwhile the gap between female and male students joining basic education was minimised.
The report also highlights significant developments in the health sector following policies and programmes. The number of hospitals increased from 52 with a capacity of 4000 beds in 1990 to 66 with a capacity of about 6000 beds in 2013. Health centres also increased from 94 in 1990 to 195 in 2013.
According to the report development policies and investment in this sector has resulted in the decline of death among infants and children aged below five years. The ratio of infant death declined from 20 per 1000 births in 1995 to 9.8 per 1000 births in 2013.
The overall death ratio declined to 2.9 per 1000 people by 2013 when compared to 7.6 per 1000 in 1990.
The average life expectancy for an Omani born in 2013 increased to 76.5 years which is 11 years more compared to 1990.
Mothers' healthcare also witnessed progress resulting in the decline in deaths during childbirth to 12 per 100000 births in 2013 compared to 22 per 100000 births in 1995. The Omani government has also taken several measures to ensure health and social care for the disabled and the elderly.
Highlighting developments in the workforce the report revealed that the percentage of women increased from nine in 1993 to 27 per cent in 2010.
To develop women's skills and encourage their participation in various fields the government has set up several associations over the past two decades. The number of such associations stood at 60 in 2013 with 9146 members. Dedicated departments for women's and children's welfare too have been set up.
The report also reveals that the population density reached 12.5 people per sq km in 2013.
Regarding improved water the report said that 93 per cent of the population consumes improved drinking water and that figure is expected to reach 100 per cent across Oman by 2022.<
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