Birth rates are declining.
This is not a fluke, nor is it a singular event. It is a worldwide phenomenon. Whereas a decade+ ago we were talking about a world with 9 billion people, we have actually been decreasing and now increasingly in well-developed countries. China is in a free fall. A labor-driven economy, that spells a looming disaster. In the case of China, there may be a pearl in the oyster in that with fewer and fewer workers to man the factories that drive the economic engine, there may be more pressure on the military, making it more difficult for them to wage an imperialistic war. Third-world countries continue to produce children but also suffer from huge infant death rates. The downside of the third world problem is that they tend to migrate in huge numbers during famine or war, sometimes swamping the receiving country's ability to provide the care and shelter they need.
Japan's birth rate hits record low; fertility rate falls for seventh straight year.
The number of newborns in Japan fell to 77,747 babies in 2022, down 5% from 2021 and the lowest level on record. The fertility rate—the average number of children a woman gives birth to in a lifetime—fell to 1.26, the lowest since 2005. The population shrank for the 16th consecutive year, as the number of deaths rose 9% to 1.57 million.
