>>:FACT/2 Immigration
Below-zero growth fertility rates have existed in many parts of the world since the 1970s, without an attendant decline in population totals. This is because many of these countries typically experience net immigration.
In fact over the next few decades, migration is predicted to become the sole driver of population growth in high-income countries.
>>:FACT/3 Fertility
Worldwide, fertility has fallen from an average of 5 births per woman in 1950 to 2.3 births per woman in 2021, an indication of the increasing control that individuals – particularly women – are able to exercise over their reproductive lives. Overall fertility is projected to fall to 2.1 births per woman by 2050.
Average Births Per Woman
In a YouGov survey of almost 8,000 people across eight countries (Brazil, Egypt, France, Hungary, India, Japan, Nigeria and the United States), more men than women held the view that their national population was too small.
Across all countries, more men than women believed higher domestic fertility rates would have a positive impact.
In every country except Hungary, exposure to rhetoric, messaging or media about global or domestic population size correlated to viewing immigration rates as too high. In Hungary, meanwhile, exposure to conversations and messaging about population correlated to viewing the population size as too low.