Astrange and striking thing is going on right now: Virtually the entire developed world appears to be quietly committing suicide. According to the 2021 edition of the CIA’s World Factbook, virtually every well-off European or East Asian country currently has a lifetime kids-per-couple birth rate below the 2.1 that is universally considered to be “replacement level.”
Taiwan (1.09), South Korea (1.11), Singapore (1.17), Hong Kong (1.23), Italy (1.24), Spain (1.29), Bosnia (1.37), Japan (1.39), Greece (1.4), and Poland (1.41) currently bring up the global rear, while Canada sits at 1.57 and the USA at a slightly better 1.84. Only 92 nations out of 223 currently have above-replacement fertility. Exactly one of them (Israel at 2.54) is a Western country, while two — Laos and Cambodia, a bit further down the rankings — are East or Southeast Asian.
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