Monday, August 4, 2014

Less people

Originally posted May 6, 2013.  This series on shrinking and aging populations is the subject of the  week.

Only 3% of the world's people live in a country with rising population.  Those countries are in Africa and in the Middle East.

Everywhere else in the world, the birth rate is going down.

A birth rate of 2.1 births per woman is required to maintain a stable population.  In Germany, the total fertility rate is 1.42 births per woman.  The rest of Europe is also well below 2.1, and Japan and China are even lower according to What to Expect When No One's Expecting.

Central and South America have seen their birth rates tumble from previously high numbers down to 2.1 - 2.8 and they're expected to descend further before very long.

Serious consequences are probably unavoidable because this is a cultural thing that exists in the minds of people, a choice.  It's not because of a temporary thing like war or disease:  it's the choice of reproducing-age adults all over the world.   (Surprisingly, certain parts of America don't participate in disappearing birth rate syndrome.)

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