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In this technical brief, we discuss the potential impact of population growth on countries’ efforts to improve their populations’ access to skilled health workers. Careful attention must be given to how population size interplays with health worker production to determine the desired health worker density ratio. An increasing rate of population growth could negate important gains in health worker production, preventing improvements in and possibly worsening the health workforce crisis in many countries. Conversely, countries that have significant declines in their rates of population growth could reach desired health service coverage more quickly than would otherwise be the case. We conclude by highlighting the need to address both health worker production and population growth to mitigate the health workforce crisis.