انخفاض معدلات المواليد في العالم infographic
Graphic shows falling birth rates in selected countries.
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انخفاض معدلات المواليد في العالم

By Duncan Mil

August 9, 2023 - سجلت اليابان أقل عدد من المواليد في تاريخها العام الماضي، إذ تشير التقديرات إلى أن 4 من كل 10 نساء قد لا ينجبن أبدا. معدلات المواليد تعتبر حاسمة في الدول المتقدمة التي تشهد شيخوخة سكانية سريعة.

The Nikkei newspaper reported Wednesday that 42 per cent of women would remain childless, citing an estimate by Japan’s National Institute of Population and Social Security Research.

Birth rates are measured using the “crude birth rate” (CBR), which represents the number of live births per 1,000 individuals.

Japan recorded the fewest births in its history in 2021 with a CBR of just 6.57, down 76.8 per cent since 1950 when the CBR was 28.34 per cent.

An eight-year decline has seen births fall from 1.03 million in 2013 to 818,509 in 2021.

China has seen an even more significant 81 per cent drop in its birth rate since 1950, from a CBR of 41 to just 7.6 in 2021.

The UN’s World Population Prospects reports that average global fertility has dropped from five births in 1950 to just 2.3 births in 2021.

The world’s population has a “replacement rate” of 2.1, at which the world’s population is stable. Today it is 2.3 and falling.

The most significant consequence of declining birth rates is a rapidly ageing population. With fewer children being born, the proportion of elderly individuals increases relative to the working-age population -- challenging social welfare systems, healthcare, and pension schemes.

Sources
PUBLISHED: 09/08/2023; STORY: Graphic News; PICTURES: Getty Images
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