Over the next few years the working-age population will decline dramatically The demographic winter continues in East Asia. As well as Japan, the other democratic, Western-leaning allies in the region are all facing similar issues: very low fertility rates, low or negative natural population growth and rapidly ageing populations. China is also grappling with these problems, […]
Population density and the proportion of society that is elderly quickly emerged as significant factors in the spread of COVID-19. Social distancing has been widely used as an effective way to avoid transmission, but is complex to implement in a very densely populated city without draconian government action. More than 55 percent of the world’s population is thought to […]
As we usher in the 2020s with a coronavirus outbreak and massive wildfires, one feels tempted to make forecasts for the upcoming decade with a glimmer of hope amidst the gloom. However, when it comes to demographics for East Asia, there is no silver lining. Through comparing the present to what might happen in 2030 […]
This year is a big year for the USA. What happens in 2020 will shape the course of the country for years to come with far-reaching political and economic effects. Of course, I am talking about the decennial census which is being held this year. Although the official “Census Day” (I wonder if they make […]
As you may have noticed, the last three years or so has seen the UK consumed with the ins and outs, the minutiae and meanderings of some little thing called Brexit. Now, it seems as if it has really happened, and the UK has actually left the EU. Of course there is still a long […]
Time is ticking for Europe, as it begins to take its demographic challenge seriously. The European Commission recently appointed Dubravka Šuica from Croatia to the position of Vice-President for Democracy and Demography. Her mission letter outlines her job for the next five years: “ensuring that Europe understands and responds to one of its deepest lying […]
Thanks to a much less rigid regime compared to China’s, Vietnam never managed to completely destroy its demographic future, despite falling for the population control trap.
As we discussed last week, the challenge of a declining Russia is one of the stories of the 21st geopolitical century. But directly to Russia’s west is another area of the world that is suffering demographic decline: East and Central Europe. Many of these countries’ demographic woes we have discussed before, but we have not really […]
No one quite knows what is going on in North Korea (although Michael Palin does have a book out which may be illuminating…but probably won’t be). Thus, when it comes to its population and predicted trends, it is hard to be sure just what the real story in in the Hermit Kingdom. But, from what can […]
This Bloomberg piece about Japan’s rural depopulation is very interesting. And since it is not only interesting but also about demography, it seems perfect to share with you, the readers of the Demography is Destiny blog. As we have often said before, Japan is the canary in the demographic coalmine, the country that the rest of the world is […]
Portugal has had an exceptional experience with emigration and immigration for several hundred years. As skilled mariners they set sail to open up world markets over 500 years ago. Portuguese settled in all continents from Brazil in the Americas all the way to East Timor in Asia including large parts of Africa in between. In […]
The entrepreneur described the notion that we have too many people on the planet as an “outdated view”, and said the shortage of people in the future will be not be checked by immigration.