Financial Times’ Post

The global population is projected to shrink this century as birth rates continue to fall dramatically. This demographic shift presents both challenges and opportunities. On one hand, a declining population could alleviate some of the pressures on the environment, potentially contributing to climate change mitigation. Fewer people mean reduced consumption of natural resources and lower greenhouse gas emissions, aligning with global sustainability goals. However, the economic implications of a shrinking population are significant. With a smaller working-age demographic, the burden on the workforce to support an increasingly aging population will grow. This imbalance could lead to labor shortages, impacting productivity and economic growth. Additionally, businesses may face challenges in maintaining a skilled workforce, and consumer markets could contract, affecting various industries. Public finances will also come under strain as governments need to allocate more resources to healthcare, pensions, and social services for an older population. The increased financial pressure may necessitate higher taxes or reallocation of funds from other critical areas, potentially stunting investments in infrastructure, education, and technology. Policymakers will need to develop innovative solutions to address these demographic changes and ensure sustainable economic and social systems. #GlobalPopulation #DemographicShift #ClimateChange #EconomicImpact #AgingPopulation #PublicFinances

In a resilient world, we compete to attract talent from across the globe and set aside our nationalist tendencies. A shrinking world is in our future, but obviously some places are much closer than others. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Tanzania, fertility is still high enough that each generation is twice the size of the one before it. Those young and growing populations can be a tremendous resource for their national economies if we have investments in human capital and other policies that can help these countries reap a demographic dividend. And they can be a resource for the global economy too. And speaking of things not being easy, we're going to have to work longer. Me too. You too. And that's because in nearly half of economies that the OECD tracks, fewer than 10 percent of people over the age of 65 still work. That is not going to fly in a resilient world. But in a resilient world, we've rethought what work looks like at older ages, and we strategically leverage technology to maximize our productivity. And we can work longer because we're healthier. In a resilient world, we finally realize that investing in health is a much better use of time and resources than trying to dictate population size. Similarly, in a resilient world, we've put in place policies, incentives and technologies that recognize how we consume is just as important as how many of us consume. And the environment is healing. In a resilient world, those societies closer to the start of this demographic transition take advantage of the time to plan and institute sustainable systems in the face of their demographic change. This is important because for the population ages 60 plus to go from 15 percent of the total to 30 percent, it'll take Ireland 92 years, the United Kingdom 89 years, and Germany 70 years. For that same demographic shift to happen now, it'll take India 34 years, Mexico 32, Iran 20 and Thailand, only 19. It's happening faster now. And we really need to realize this because those countries have to act, including suites of policies like moving away from informal economies that increase the risk of poverty in older ages. We should run from a fearful world and get our heads out of the sand. And we should be able to imagine a much better, more resilient world. I've always thought that the way we feel about population aging to a large extent reflects the really negative way we feel about our individual aging. And that bias has held us back. But just as with our own aging, this shift is inevitable. https://lnkd.in/eexVUrtB #future #sustainability #management #technology

a well summarized read on the positive side of declining #birthrates. it pairs with a recent read on the history of patriarchy, which is rooted in the need for soldiers back in the day. measuring our collective wellbeing and restoring our right relationship with nature is not congruent with an ever increasing GDP — which is why we desperately need new yardsticks. and more reasonable headlines about population rates. #thenewstory #leadering #repatterningthefuture

The truth about human population decline With birth rates falling, the worldwide human population is getting older and smaller. According to traditional thinking, this spells a future of labor shortages, bankrupt social security systems and overall economic collapse. Before you panic about the end of life as we know it, political demographer Jennifer D. Sciubba has a thoughtful playbook for managing the new normal – including ideas on the future of work and migration – and a reminder that a resilient future relies on present-day action.

#China's trillion-dollar silver #economy has been expanding as population aging picks up. The consumption demands of the elderly are also becoming more diversified and personalized. Check out the #infographic for more!

⚠️ Forget #climatechange, population decline might just be the most pressing potential disaster facing humanity. The economic prosperity enjoyed by the vast majority of the world’s #population over the past 150 years or so was based on – among other things – a growing population. More people meant more #labour, bigger #markets, improved competition and innovation, and economies of scale. Average earnings, life expectancy and the range of goods and services available have increased dramatically all over the world. That boom is over and birth rates have been falling for decades. This is how the world’s falling birthrate is leading to economic catastrophe ⬇️ https://lnkd.in/ehnGiE2C #economy

The global human population reached 8.0 billion in mid-November 2022 from an estimated 2.5 billion people in 1950. The world's population is expected to increase by nearly 2 billion persons in the next 30 years, from the current 8 billion to 9.7 billion in 2050 and could peak at nearly 10.4 billion in the mid-2080s. More people lived in cities than in rural areas in 2007 and 66% of the world population will reside in cities by 2050.

Countries experiencing the largest population decline

The truth about human population decline | Jennifer D. Sciubba With birth rates falling, the worldwide human population is getting older and smaller. According to traditional thinking, this spells a future of labor shortages, bankrupt social security systems and overall economic collapse. Before you panic about the end of life as we know it, political demographer Jennifer D. Sciubba has a thoughtful playbook for managing the new normal – including ideas on the future of work and migration – and a reminder that a resilient future relies on present-day action.