By 2100, 97% of countries will be too barren to survive

If we think back to the typical family just a few decades ago, couples in almost all countries tended to have more than two children. However, nowadays, in countries with higher economic development, it is much more common to find those that have only one or even none. There are several reasons why this happens. On the one side, infertility connected with our lifestyle. And, on the other hand, the difficulty of reconciliation, especially in the case of women. These reasons may be behind the results of a rather alarming study recently published in the journal Lancet. It reports that, according to the calculations of its authors, by the end of this century 97% countries They will not be able to maintain their population.

It means that birth rate They will shrink so much that the country’s population will plummet. According to the models built by these researchers, based on University of Washington Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, in 2050 this will happen in three quarters of countries, and in 2100 we will reach 97%. This indicates that the rate of this decline will be very rapid.

This does not mean a drop in world population, because on the other hand we have countries with fewer economic resources, in which the opposite is expected. There will be more and more children in families. The result will be an imbalance that can be very detrimental in the long run. Taking advantage of this forecast, the study’s authors recommend taking action in advance to prevent the situation from getting that far. This uneven distribution of the Earth’s population could be the straw that breaks the camel’s back on a planet that has more and more reasons to collapse.

Reasons for the decline in fertility in developed countries

Social reasons aside, one would expect the birth rate to be higher in developed countries. After all, there is stronger healthcare infrastructure and the general health of the population can be considered better.

However, there are certain factors due to which the fertility rate in these countries suffers greatly. The first is stress. Often in countries with higher economic development people live with hectic lifestyle, which causes more and more cases of stress and anxiety. Although for many years there was much doubt as to whether these factors actually influence fertility, there is now widespread agreement that they do. In fact, psychological interventions are very effective in improving health outcomes in some cases. pregnancy rates some couples

On the other hand, the most industrialized countries tend to have higher levels of pollution. Environmental pollution and the accumulation of toxins in the air seriously affect fertility. both male and female. Even noise pollution can have an impact, albeit on other levels, such as increasing the incidence of premature births.

A link has also been observed between fertility and consumption ultra-processed foods. They are much more common in developed countries, where, in addition, lifestyle may mean that we have less time to prepare healthy menus.

Social reasons

Today, in many of these countries, priorities have changed. It is often important for young people to achieve sufficient career advancement before considering starting a family. Moreover, no matter how developed the country is, we have gone through many Times of crisis in which it is more difficult to buy a house or have a fixed salary. For this reason, young people need more time to emancipate themselves and create favorable conditions in order to think about children. In the European Union, for example, the average age at which women give birth to their first child has risen sharply over the past decade and is now around 30 years old. There has also been a significant increase in the number of women wanting to have their first child after age 35, and infertility rates also increase at this age.

This, along with the problems that must be had good family balanceis another reason for the decline in fertility in recent years.

Rising birth rates in some parts of the world

According to a study published in LancetOne of the regions experiencing the largest baby boom is sub-Saharan Africa. In fact, already in 2021. 29% of children in the world. This percentage can reach 54% by 2100. Thus, although 97% of countries will not be able to maintain their population by the end of the century, countries with fewer resources will have too many people to distribute among themselves.

Clearly, developed countries will need to develop policies that help young people have children more quickly. At the same time improve access to contraception This could be a good measure in these developing countries. One thing is clear: there must be a balance, which is increasingly being upset. Now that we have the numbers, we need to take action.