Global birth rates fall faster than expected, prompting adaptation to aging societies

The world is experiencing a demographic shift as birth rates decline more rapidly than previously predicted, a phenomenon impacting all nations.

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Fertility has fallen in all countries of the world, it is falling, and in a good part of the world's countries it is already at very low levels.

While the global population continues to grow, the pace has significantly slowed. Projections from the United Nations indicate a peak of around 10.3 billion people by the mid-2080s, after which a gradual decrease is expected. This trend is driven by a sharp drop in global fertility rates, which have fallen from an average of 4.9 children per woman in the 1950s to approximately 2.3 today, according to Our World in Data.

Demographer Jorge Paz notes that this decline is a worldwide process, affecting even regions with historically high fertility rates like parts of Africa. Europe began its demographic transition over two centuries ago, and Latin America followed later. Argentina, once a relative exception with stable low fertility, has seen a dramatic shift since 2014, experiencing a demographic "crack" that compressed decades of transition into a single decade.

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Argentina has a demographic crack in 2014.

Enrique Peláez, another demographer, highlights that the speed of this fertility decline is the most significant aspect. The challenge for societies will not be a population collapse, but rather adapting to an increasingly aged populace, a transition that requires careful planning and societal adjustment.

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the speed with which