ISLAMABAD -- Pakistan's population growth has started declining from the current growth rate of 2.1 percent and is expected to go down to 1.3 percent over the next two decades, the Population Planning Commission's Deputy Chairman Dr. Shahid Amjad Chaudhary said Wednesday.

He was speaking at the launching of the UN Fund for Population report "People, Poverty and Possibilities: making development work for the poor" in Pakistan at a function here on Wednesday.

The deputy chairman said the incidence of poverty increased by 10 percent between 1991 and 1998.

The UNFPA representative in Pakistan, Dr. Olivier Brasseur, said Pakistan is included among 50 countries whose population would triple in the next 50 years.

He said Pakistan, at its current birth rate, is adding to its population twice the size of Multan in Punjab every year (around 3 million). He called for restructuring of public expenditure towards growth and poverty reduction.

The report, while highlighting population growth in the world, points out that the overall gap between the rich and poor has been growing. The difference in per capital income between the world's wealthiest 20 percent and the poorest 20 percent grew from 30 to 1 in 1960 to 78 to 1 in 1994, and fell slightly to 74 to 1 in 1999.

The report says that poor health, illiteracy, inadequate schooling, social exclusion, powerlessness and gender discrimination contribute to poverty.

The report emphasizes the need to cut global poverty and hunger in half by 2015, reduce maternal and child deaths, curb AIDS and advance gender equality.