CNA Staff, Jul 15, 2020 / 14:00 pm
A new study published in a leading British medical journal predicts that the total fertility rate worldwide will drop well below replacement level by 2100, and that the population of many countries will drop by half in the coming century.
The article, published in The Lancet on Tuesday, is titled "Fertility, mortality, migration, and population scenarios for 195 countries and territories from 2017 to 2100: a forecasting analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study." The research was conducted by the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, and was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Researchers found that total fertility rate (TFR), the average number of children born to a woman throughout her lifetime, will drop to 1.66 worldwide by 2100. The global population is expected to peak at 9.73 billion in 2064, before dropping due to falling birthrates.
A TFR of 2.1 is considered to be "replacement-level." This means that adults will be producing enough children to eventually replace them in society. The figure is 2.1 rather than 2 to account for the number of children who do not survive to adulthood. With a TFR of 2.1, the population of an area is expected to remain stable. If it is higher, it will grow, and if it is smaller, the population will contract.