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Nearly half of the nations of the world, including Ireland, are experiencing a "collapse of their baby" because there are not enough children to maintain the size of their population.
A study published in the Lancet followed fertility trends in all countries from 1950 to 2017 and found that 91 countries were not producing enough children to maintain their current populations.
It measured the total fertility rate – the total number of children born or likely to be born to a woman during her lifetime, depending on the age-specific fertility rate prevalent in her lifetime. population.
A value of 2.1 is generally considered the level at which a generation would replace itself in the long run, ignoring migration.
In Ireland, the fertility rate fell below the replacement level in 1989 and again in 1999 and has remained there since. It decreased by more than 26% between 1986 and 2016, from 2.44 to 1.81.
In 1950, women had an average of 4.7 children in their lifetime. The fertility rate almost halved to 2.4 children per woman last year.
The fertility rate of Ireland, which was 1.8, was similar to that of England and Northern Ireland. The rate in Wales was 1.7 and in Scotland it was 1.5.
The fertility rate in France was 1.8; it was 1.4 in Germany and Spain and 1.3 in Italy.
The lowest fertility rate was observed in Cyprus where, on average, a woman would give birth to a child throughout her life, compared with the highest in Niger, where a woman would give birth to seven children.
In addition to Niger, Mali, Chad and South Sudan were among the 104 countries with fertility rates above two births per woman.
However, 91 countries, including Singapore, Portugal, Norway and South Korea, as well as Cyprus, have rates below two.
Dr. Christopher Murray, director of the Institute of Metrology and Health Assessment of the University of Washington, said these statistics represented a benefit for some countries and a "collapse" for d & # 39; # 39; others.
"Low female fertility rates clearly reflect not only access to and availability of reproductive health services, but also many women who choose to postpone or give up childbirth, while providing more opportunities for education. and employment, "he said.
The results are included in the annual global burden of disease study, which includes 3,676 contributors from 146 countries and territories.
The world's population has almost tripled since 1950, from 2.6 billion to 7.6 billion last year.
"Although total fertility rates are declining, the world's population continues to grow in line with the decline in mortality rates and the 'dynamism' of the population of previous decades," said Dr. Murray.
