Everything about Population Decline totally explained
Population decline is the reduction over time in a region's
census. It can be caused for several reasons; notable ones include
sub-replacement fertility (along with limited
immigration), heavy
emigration,
disease,
famine, and
war.
Prior to the 20th century, population decline was mostly observed due to disease. The
Black Death in Europe, the arrival of
Old World diseases to the
Americas, the
tsetse fly invasion of the
Waterberg Massif in
South Africa, and the
Great Irish Famine (1845–1849) have all caused sizable regional population declines. In modern times, the
AIDS epidemic has caused declines in the population of some African countries. Less frequently, population declines are caused by
genocide or mass
execution; for example, in the
1970s, the population of
Cambodia went through a period of decline due to wide scale executions by the
Khmer Rouge regime.
According to 2002 reports by the
United Nations Population Division and the
US Census Bureau, population decline is occurring today in some regions. According to the UN,
below-replacement fertility is expected in 75% of developed world by the year
2050. The US Census Bureau notes that the 74 million people added to the world's population in 2002 were fewer than the high of 87 million people added in 1989-1990. The annual growth rate was 1.2 percent, down from the high of 2.2 percent in 1963-64.
"Census Bureau projections show this slow-down in population growth continuing into the foreseeable future," stated the Bureau's brief on the findings. "Census Bureau projections suggest that the level of fertility in many countries will drop below replacement level before
2050...
In 1990 the world's women, on average, were giving birth to 3.3 children over their lifetimes. By 2002 the average was 2.6." Of course, this value still ensures the continuing rapid growth of the human population as a whole, even if some regions may decline.
Sometimes the term underpopulation is applied in the context of a specific economic system. It doesn't relate to carrying capacity, and isn't a term in opposition to overpopulation, which deals with the total possible population that can be sustained by available food, water, sanitation and other infrastructure. "Underpopulation" is usually defined as a state in which a country's population has declined too much to support its current economic system. Thus the term has nothing to do with the biological aspects of carrying capacity, but is an artificial term employed to imply that the transfer payment schemes of some developed countries might fail once the population declines to a certain point. An example would be if retirees were supported through a social security system which doesn't invest savings, and then a large emigration movement occurred. In this case, the younger generation may not be able to support the older generation.
By specific countries
Today emigration and
sub-replacement fertility rates are the principal issues related to any regional population decline. A number of nations today are experiencing population decline, stretching from North Asia (
Japan) through to Eastern Europe through
Russia including
Kazakhstan,
Ukraine,
Belarus,
Moldova,
Estonia,
Latvia,
Lithuania,
Bulgaria,
Georgia,
Armenia,
Bosnia,
Croatia,
Slovenia, and
Hungary.
The population of former Soviet Republics, with the exception of
Muslim majority nations and oil rich
Azerbaijan, is falling due to health factors and low replacement. Much of Eastern Europe has lost population due to migration to Western Europe. In
Eastern Europe and
Russia, fell abruptly
after the end of Communism. Together these nations occupy over 8 million square miles and are home to over 400 million people (less than six percent of the world population), but if current trends continue, more of the developed world and some of the developing world could join this trend.
Many nations in Western Europe today would have declining populations if it were not for international immigration. Some think that there will be underpopulation in
Japan by
2014; Japan's situation is related to low replacement and an extremely low level of
immigration.
AIDS plays some role in population decline; however, data available suggest that, even with high AIDS mortality, fertility rates in Africa are sufficiently high, so that
overpopulation trends continue.
Economic consequences
The effects of a declining population can be adverse for an
economy which has borrowed extensively for repayment by younger generations; however, a smaller human population has a positive impact on the
environment and
biodiversity. Problems associated with declining population are not irreversible or as severe as those associated with
overpopulation.
Economically declining populations can lead to
deflation, which has a number of effects. For an agricultural economy the average
standard of living, at least in terms of material possessions, will tend to rise as the amount of land and resources per person will be higher. But for many industrial economies, the opposite can be true as those economies often thrive on mortgaging the future by way of
social welfare and retirement
transfer payments. However,
standard of living doesn't necessarily correlate with
quality of life, which may very well increase as the population declines (especially if the area in question is somewhat overpopulated to begin with).
The period immediately after the Black Death, for instance, was one of great prosperity, as people had inheritances from many different family members. However that situation wasn't comparable, as it didn't have a continually declining population, but rather a sudden shock, followed by population increase. Predictions of the economic effects from a slow and continuous population decline (for example due to low fertility rates) are mainly theoretical since such a phenomenon is a relatively new and unprecedented one.
A declining population due to demographics will also be accompanied by
population ageing which can contribute problems for a society. The decade long economic malaise of
Japan and
Germany is often linked to these demographic problems. The worst case scenario is a situation where the population falls to too low a level to support a current
social welfare economic system, which is more likely to occur with a rapid decline than with a more gradual one.
However, the economies of both
Japan and
Germany both went into recovery around the time their populations just began to decline (2003-2006). In other words, both the total and per capita GDP in both countries grew more rapidly after 2005 than before.
Russia's economy also began to grow rapidly from 1999 onward, even though its population has been shrinking since 1992-93 (the decline is now accelerating). In addition, many Eastern European countries have been experiencing similar effects to Russia. Such renewed growth calls into question the conventional wisdom that economic growth requires population growth, or that economic growth is impossible during a population decline.
A declining population (regardless of the cause) can also create a
labor shortage, which can have a number of positive as well as negative effects. While some labor-intensive sectors of the economy may fail if the shortage is severe enough, others may adequately compensate by increased outsourcing and/or automation. Initially, the labor participation rates (which are low in many countries) can also be increased to temporarily reduce or delay the shortage. On the positive side, such a shortage increases the demand for labor, which can potentially result in a reduced unemployment rate as well as higher wages.
A smaller national population can also have geo-strategic effects, but the correlation between population and
power is a tenuous one, especially in today's world.
National efforts to reverse declining populations
President
Vladimir Putin recently directed Parliament to adopt a 10-year program to stop the sharp decline in
Russia's population, principally by offering financial incentives and subsidies to encourage women to have children.
Australia currently offers a $4,100 bonus for every baby plus additional fortnightly payments, a free immunization scheme and recently proposed to pay all child care costs for women who want to work. Many European countries, including
France,
Italy and
Poland, have offered some combination of bonuses and monthly payments to families. Some
Japanese localities, facing significant population loss, are offering economic incentives.
Yamatsuri, a town of 7,000 just north of
Tokyo, offers parents $4,600 for the birth of a child and $460 a year for 10 years. The
Republic of Singapore has a particularly lavish plan: $3,000 for the first child, $9,000 in cash and savings for the second; and up to $18,000 each for the third and fourth.
Alternative concept relative to skills
Sometimes the concept of population decline is applied where there has been considerable ex-migration of skilled professionals. In such a case, the government may have ceased to reward or value certain skills (for example science, medicine and engineering), and sectors of the economy such as health care and technology may go into decline. Such characterizations have been made of
Italy and
Russia in the period starting about
1990.
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