The World Economic Forum (WEF) published an article on June 15 with the headline “Bye, bye, baby.” It picks up on a topic that the IMF is also happy to address: Depopulation.
The WEF points out that birth rates have already fallen sharply in many countries. A decline in fertility due to the pandemic is suppressing population growth in many developed nations. Already, in developed nations, the birthrate of women over 40 has surpassed the rate of women aged 20 and younger.
“Fewer people are good for the climate,” the WEF underscored towards the end of the blog entry. In another report from July 17, 2020, the World Economic Forum referred to a study that predicted that 23 countries expected their population to halve by 2100.
The Brookings Institute has estimated that 300 000 babies were not born in the US as a result of economic insecurity related to the pandemic. Also life expectancy in the United States has declined by a full year due to deaths. For racial minorities it is even lower: African American life expectancy has shaved off by two years and Latino life expectancy three years.
In 2020, Australia recorded its first population decline since World War I, due to stricter anti-Covid border measures. Canada granted permanent-resident status to only 180 000 applicants in 2020, far short of the target of 381 000.
The WEF has argued that the success of economies around the globe will increasingly depend on migration and open borders. This century has seen the largest migration in human history. In 1960, one-third of humanity lived in a city, but today, it’s almost 60 percent. And because urbanization has contributed to population decline, the WEF has been promoting open borders.