Category Archives: Population

South Korea’s birthrate rises for second year with experts saying ‘echo boomers’ behind boost

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Rebound in the country – which has been having demographic crisis – said to be partly because of 3.6 million born between 1991 and 1995 having children

South Korea recorded 254,500 births in 2025, the largest annual increase in 15 years, driven largely by a temporarily enlarged generation – known as “echo boomers” – now in their early thirties, alongside marriage rates recovering from Covid-era delays.

The country’s fertility rate – the average number of babies a woman is expected to have in her lifetime – rose to 0.80 from 0.75 last year, returning to the 0.8 range for the first time since 2021, according to provisional figures released by South Korea’s ministry of data and statistics on Wednesday.

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Jakarta overtakes Tokyo as world’s most populous city, according to UN

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The rankings were changed after the UN used new criteria to give a more accurate picture of the rapid urbanisation driving the growth of megacities

Jakarta has overtaken Tokyo as the world’s most populous city, according to a UN study that uses new criteria to give a more accurate picture of the rapid urbanisation driving the growth of megacities.

The Indonesian capital is home to 42 million people, according to an estimate by the population division of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs in its World Urbanisation Prospects 2025 report published this month.

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Japan’s imported baby boom spotlights a political and demographic timebomb

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Rise in births to non-Japanese comes as politicians keep dodging the choice between economic decline and a more diverse population

This week brought encouraging news for Japan’s long battle to defuse its demographic timebomb: in 2024, the number of babies born to one sector of the population rose to a record of more than 22,000 – that’s about 3,000 more than the previous year and a 50% increase on a decade ago.

But none of the women who answered calls – invariably issued by conservative male politicians – to have more children were Japanese.

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Record number of babies born to foreign parents in Japan amid political row over migration

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More than 20,000 children were born to non-Japanese couples, accounting for more than 3% of all newborns

The number of babies born to foreign parents reached a record high in Japan in 2024, underlining rapid demographic changes that have propelled migration to the heart of the country’s political debate.

More than 20,000 children were born to non-Japanese couples, accounting for more than 3% of all newborns, according to the health ministry – in stark contrast to another sharp fall in the number born to Japanese parents.

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Low birthrates in England could lead to ‘closure of 800 primary schools by 2029’

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Primary pupil numbers could fall by 4% over next five years leading to reduction of 162,000 pupils, study finds

Declining numbers of children across England could lead to the equivalent of 800 primary schools falling empty or being closed by the end of the decade, according to research by a thinktank.

The national decline in pupils at state primary schools is mainly driven by low birthrates but is magnified in London by increasing numbers of people moving out of the capital or leaving the state system to move abroad or send their children to private schools, according to the Education Policy Institute.

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Greece announces €1.6bn relief package to tackle population decline

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Government to use tax breaks and other financial incentives to encourage people to have more children

Greece has announced drastic measures, including tax breaks and other financial incentives, to address a population decline that is on course to make it the oldest nation in Europe.

The prime minister said the €1.6bn (£1.4bn) relief package had been dictated by one of the biggest challenges facing the Mediterranean nation : a demographic crisis of unprecedented scale.

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South Korea’s military shrinks by 20% as low birthrate hits recruitment

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World’s lowest birthrate leaves Seoul 50,000 troops short of maintaining defence readiness, report warns

South Korea’s military has shrunk by 20% in the past six years, largely due to a sharp decrease in the population of men of enlistment age for mandatory service in the country with the world’s lowest birthrate, according to a report.

The sharp decline in the pool of men available for military service is also causing a shortfall in the number of officers and could result in operational difficulties, the defence ministry said in the report.

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Japan’s PM accepts ‘harsh’ election result after losing upper house majority

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Ballot heaps pressure on Shigeru Ishiba’s minority government just as it attempts to negotiate deal to avert Trump tariffs

Japanese prime minister Shigeru Ishiba’s future was unclear on Monday after his coalition lost its upper house majority in elections that saw strong gains by a rightwing populist party.

While the ballot does not directly determine whether Ishiba’s minority government falls, it heaps pressure on the embattled leader, who also lost control of the more powerful lower house in October and who has never been popular within his own party.

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Japan records lowest number of births in more than a century, as population fears grow

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New government data shows the number of births reached 686,061 in 2024, a decline of 5.7% from the previous year and the lowest since statistics were first kept in 1899

Japan’s struggle to encourage couples to have more children has been given greater urgency after data showed the annual number of births dropped to below 700,000 for the first time since records began more than a century ago.

According to government data released this week, the number of births reached 686,061 in 2024, a decline of 5.7% from the previous year and the lowest since statistics were first kept in 1899. The data excludes babies born to foreign residents.

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Vietnam scraps two-child policy as it tackles falling birthrate

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Authorities seek to increase number of births amid fear ageing society could threaten economic growth plans

Vietnam has scrapped a longstanding policy limiting families to two children, as the communist-run country grapples with a declining birthrate.

State media announced on Wednesday that couples could make their own decisions about how many children to have, and how much time to wait between births, reversing a decades-old preference for one- or two-child families.

AFP contributed to this report.

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Badenoch says more children, not immigration, will help with ageing population

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Conservative leader’s remarks to BBC suggest she may develop policies that encourage women to have more children

People should be having more children rather than the UK relying on immigration to deal with an ageing population, Kemi Badenoch has suggested.

The Conservative leader said the UK needed to answer the question of how we “make sure we can deal with [an] ageing society, people not having enough children”.

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South Korea birthrate rises for first time in nine years amid surge in marriages

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Rise comes from very low base and remains far below the 2.1 births per woman needed to stabilise population

South Korea’s birthrate rose last year for the first time in nine years, as a surge in marriages raised hopes that the country may be lifting itself out of its demographic crisis.

Preliminary data released by the government body Statistics Korea on Wednesday showed that the number of babies born per 1,000 people in 2024 stood at 4.7, the first rise since 2014.

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Up to 10,000 people will have to be rehoused if Heathrow third runway goes ahead, John McDonnell says – UK politics live

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MP for Hayes and Harlington, whose constituency includes Heathrow, says homes will either be unliveable or need to be demolished

Q: Are doctors able to recognise depression? And can they decide if that affects someone’s capacity to make a decision about their health?

Whitty says doctors can identify depression. But he says it is harder for them to assess if that is affecting capacity.

That’s where help from colleagues from psychiatry, mental health more widely, is going to be useful. But that should be good medical practice, in my view, under all circumstances.

Certainly what I wouldn’t want is to be in a situation where the existence of the fact that someone who has a terminal diagnosis has some degree of low mood in itself just rules them out from any kind of medical intervention, this or any other. That shouldn’t be the case.

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Baby Remi, among the first born of new Beta generation, arrives in Australia just minutes after new year

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Baby girl born in NSW’s Port Macquarie base hospital at 12.05 belongs to generation Beta, many of whom will live to see 22nd century

A baby girl named Remi, born just minutes into the new year on the NSW midnorth coast, is believed to be the first Australian birth of 2025 – and the first of “generation Beta”.

Tzu-Ling Huang and Liam Walsh had a quiet New Year’s Eve planned at their home in Comboyne, but their daughter surprised them and arrived two weeks early.

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China’s kindergarten numbers shrink as policymakers struggle to arrest falling birthrate

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Various measures designed to encourage people to have more children have had limited success

The number of kindergartens in China fell by more than 5% last year, the second year in a row that preschool institutions were in decline, reflecting the country’s falling birthrate.

In 2023, there were 274,400 kindergartens across China, down from 289,200 in 2022, according to a Ministry of Education statistical bulletin published last week.

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Russia seeks to ban ‘propaganda’ promoting childfree lifestyles

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People could face fines of up to 400,000 rubles, as data suggests birthrate has slid to lowest level in quarter of a century

A law that would ban “propaganda” seeking to champion a childfree lifestyle has cleared its first hurdle in Russia’s lower house of parliament, gaining unanimous approval among lawmakers for a bill promoted as a means to increase the country’s birthrate.

The new legislation sets out fines for those deemed to be discouraging people from having children, as official data released last month suggested Russia’s birthrate had slid to its lowest level in a quarter of a century, a slump exacerbated by the country’s ageing population and Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

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Australia’s population passes 27 million milestone after post-pandemic migration boost

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ABS data shows the jump from 26 to 27 million people by March 2024 took just one-and-three-quarter years, ‘far quicker than the average’

There are now more than 27 million people calling Australia home – a quick jump of 1 million people in less than two years thanks to post-pandemic overseas migration.

The national population grew by 2.3% to 27.1 million in the year ending 31 March, according to new data released by the Australia Bureau of Statistics on Thursday.

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Rapidly urbanising Africa to have six cities with populations above 10m by 2035

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Youthful, growing cities expected to create wealth and opportunities but stretch public and utility services

Six African cities will have more than 10 million people by 2035, with the continent’s booming young population making it the world’s fastest urbanising region, according to a report.

Angola’s capital, Luanda, and Tanzania’s commercial hub, Dar es Salaam, will join the metropolises of Cairo, Kinshasa, Lagos and Greater Johannesburg with populations of more than 10 million, the Economist Intelligence Unit said in a report on African cities.

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Australia in biggest ‘baby recession’ since 1970s as pandemic birth boom fades

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Sydney has biggest drop in births as economist says couples delaying children because of cost-of-living crisis

Australia is in the grips of a “baby recession”, which some have attributed to rising cost-of-living pressures and economic uncertainty.

The number of births in Australia dropped to 289,100 in 2023, the lowest recorded since 2006, analysis from KPMG Australia showed.

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Japan asks young people why they are not marrying amid population crisis

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Consultation launched as surveys show people have little chance to meet partners and worry about high cost of living

The Japanese government has begun to consult young people about their interest in marriage – or lack thereof – as Japan continues to struggle with a demographic crisis that is expected to result in a sharp population decline over the next decades.

The Children and Families Agency, launched in April 2023, held its first working group meeting on Friday to support young people in their efforts to find partners through dating, matchmaking and other means. Attenders included those considering marriage in the future and experts versed in the challenges facing younger people.

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