Don’t hold your breath

Auroville’s population figures for 2015 have finally arrived. Were they worth waiting for? Not really. The overall population has increased by – wait for it – a grand, or not so grand, total of 55, which is an annual growth rate of a shade over 2%, almost one percentage point less than last year. No wonder the Growth Action Group dissolved itself in July, presumably in despair.

Almost two thirds of the increase is due to an increase in the populations of our two most populous nationalities, Indians and French, which added 19 and 15 nationals respectively. The Indian proportion of the whole is slightly down, at 42.5%, but Indian, French and Germans still make up two thirds of our total population. And we call this an ‘international’ community…

So who were the gainers and the losers? The Spanish saw the biggest percentage rise (10%) but that only represents five extra Iberians. The Dutch also added five, the Italians four, the Koreans and Canadians three, the Ukrainians and Japanese two. Is anybody still reading this?

The big losers were the Swiss who shed five of their number (couldn’t cope with global warming?), and the Americans (-4), while the Israelis and Australians each lost a couple of nationals. The single Finnish and Egyptian representatives disappeared (together?).

The male/female ratio for adults is also virtually unchanged from last year, at around 50.5%/49.5%, although the women have very slightly improved their representation. For some reason, the ratio is slightly different for minors, boys representing around 53.5% of the total. But then, of course, work in the Auroville mines is tough, so you wouldn’t expect so many girls to be attracted to working the pits.

So why is our population not expanding faster? After all, our annual population growth rate is almost exactly the same as that of Afghanistan and Eritrea, which are not exactly prime holiday destinations. And we have pizzerias, pools, healing centres, and so many other wonderful places

As ever in Auroville, theories abound. It’s the lack of low-cost housing, the high cost of living, the climate, a dysfunctional economy, the fact that we are no longer ‘cutting-edge’ in many areas. It’s because we are an ageing population, that we have gone ‘bourgeois’ and don’t appeal to young people who are looking for a different way of life. It’s because we are not living up to our high ideals (but when, exactly, did we?).

And then, of course, there is the el nino effect which, along with climate change, seems to be blamed for most things that are going wrong these days.

So there’s plenty of food for speculation in these figures. If you feel drawn to this work, why not apply to write about the 2016 population figures next December? This exciting job opportunity has a vacancy at present.