The Great Depopulation
The global birthrate has declined significantly, falling below the replacement level for the first time in history. Factors contributing to this trend include increased education for women, economic pressures, and modern anxieties about the future. Experts warn that if this trend continues, it could lead to a peak in world population within the next few decades.
- ▪Birth rates have been declining in developed countries due to various social and economic factors.
- ▪The total fertility rate has fallen below the replacement level of 2.1 births per woman in many regions.
- ▪2023 marked the first time the global total fertility rate dropped below the replacement rate in 200,000 years.
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IdeasThe Great DepopulationWhy is the birthrate declining in every country on Earth?By Derek ThompsonRolf Zöllner / Bridgeman ImagesMay 26, 2026, 7 AM ET ShareSave Why has the number of births declined everywhere, all at once?Some blame technology, particularly smartphones and social media. Others blame a kind of 21st-century weltschmerz—a sadness about the state of the world and our uncertain future in it. A long essay in The New York Times by Anna Louie Sussman, titled “Why So Few Babies? We Might Have Overlooked the Biggest Reason of All,” argues that today’s generation is too anxious about the future to make the irreversible commitment of having a child.So who is right? Is this about phones and technology, or is it a reflection of modern anxiety about the world? Or, perhaps,…
Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at The Atlantic.
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