The statistic shows the 20 countries with the lowest fertility rates in 2024. All figures are estimates. In 2024, the fertility rate in Taiwan was estimated to be at 1.11 children per woman, making it the lowest fertility rate worldwide. Fertility rate The fertility rate is the average number of children born per woman of child-bearing age in a country. Usually, a woman aged between 15 and 45 is considered to be in her child-bearing years. The fertility rate of a country provides an insight into its economic state, as well as the level of health and education of its population. Developing countries usually have a higher fertility rate due to lack of access to birth control and contraception, and to women usually foregoing a higher education, or even any education at all, in favor of taking care of housework. Many families in poorer countries also need their children to help provide for the family by starting to work early and/or as caretakers for their parents in old age. In developed countries, fertility rates and birth rates are usually much lower, as birth control is easier to obtain and women often choose a career before becoming a mother. Additionally, if the number of women of child-bearing age declines, so does the fertility rate of a country. As can be seen above, countries like Hong Kong are a good example for women leaving the patriarchal structures and focusing on their own career instead of becoming a mother at a young age, causing a decline of the country’s fertility rate. A look at the fertility rate per woman worldwide by income group also shows that women with a low income tend to have more children than those with a high income. The United States are neither among the countries with the lowest, nor among those with the highest fertility rate, by the way. At 2.08 children per woman, the fertility rate in the US has been continuously slightly below the global average of about 2.4 children per woman over the last decade.

While the standard image of the nuclear family with two parents and 2.5 children has persisted in the American imagination, the number of births in the U.S. has steadily been decreasing since 1990, with about 3.6 million babies born in 2023. In 1990, this figure was 4.16 million. Birth and replacement rates A country’s birth rate is defined as the number of live births per 1,000 inhabitants, and it is this particularly important number that has been decreasing over the past few decades. The declining birth rate is not solely an American problem, with EU member states showing comparable rates to the U.S. Additionally, each country has what is called a “replacement rate.” The replacement rate is the rate of fertility needed to keep a population stable when compared with the death rate. In the U.S., the fertility rate needed to keep the population stable is around 2.1 children per woman, but this figure was at 1.67 in 2022. Falling birth rates Currently, there is much discussion as to what exactly is causing the birth rate to decrease in the United States. There seem to be several factors in play, including longer life expectancies, financial concerns (such as the economic crisis of 2008), and an increased focus on careers, all of which are causing people to wait longer to start a family. How international governments will handle falling populations remains to be seen, but what is clear is that the declining birth rate is a multifaceted problem without an easy solution.

The autonomous Spanish city of Melilla, located in the Northern coast of Africa, had the highest birth rate of Spanish cities in 2023: 8.99 births per 1,000 inhabitants. Asturias, on the other hand, had the lowest birth rate, with 4.51 births per 1,000 inhabitants. As of January 2024, Andalusia was the most populated autonomous community in Spain, with a total amount of approximately 8.6 million inhabitants. Spain’s population increases Spain had one of the lowest fertility rate in the European Union in 2023, with approximately 1.29 children being born alive to a woman during her lifetime. In comparison, the fertility rate in France was set at 1.79 that year, whereas Ireland reached 1.76. In 2024, the total population of Spain was around 48.4 million people and was forecast to increase by 2028. Opposite trends There are two reasons for the slow upward trend in Spain’s population. On the one hand, more people die in Spain than are being born in the latest years. On the other hand, while Spain’s population moved away from the country in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, the country became a net recipient of foreign immigration again after 2015.

According to the most recent data, more people died in Spain than were born in 2024, with figures reaching over 439,000 deaths versus 322,034 newborns. From 2006 to 2024, 2008 ranked as the year in which the largest number of children were born, with figures reaching over half a million newborns. The depopulation of a country The population of Spain declined for many years, a negative trend reverted from 2016 onwards, and was projected to grow by nearly two million by 2029 compared to 2024. Despite this expected increase, Spain has one of the lowest fertility rate in the European Union, with barely 1.29 children per woman according to the latest reports. During the last years, the country featured a continuous population density of approximately 94 inhabitants per square kilometer – a figure far from the European average, which stood nearly at nearly 112 inhabitants per square kilometer in 2021. Migration inflow: an essential role in the Spanish population growth One of the key points to balance out the population trend in Spain is immigration – Spain’s immigration figures finally started to pick up in 2015 after a downward trend that presumably initiated after the 2008 financial crisis, which left Spain with one of the highest unemployment rates in Europe.

Building on nascent literature examining the health-related effects of vicarious structural racism, we examined indirect exposure to the Flint Water Crisis (FWC) as a predictor of birth outcomes in Michigan communities outside of Flint, where residents were not directly exposed to lead-contaminated water. Using linear regression models, we analyzed records for all singleton live births in Michigan from 2013 to 2016, excluding Flint, to determine whether birth weight (BW), gestational age (GA), and size-for-gestational-age (SzGA) decreased among babies born to Black people, but not among babies born to White people, following the highly publicized January 2016 emergency declaration in Flint. In adjusted regression models, BW and SzGA were lower for babies born to both Black and White people in the 37 weeks following the emergency declaration compared to the same 37-week periods in the previous 3 years. There were no racial differences in the association of exposure to the emergency declaration with BW or SzGA. Among infants born to Black people, GA was 0.05 weeks lower in the 37-week period following the emergency declaration versus the same 37-week periods in the previous 3 years (95% CI: −0.09, −0.01; p = 0.0177), while there was no change in GA for infants born to White people following the emergency declaration (95% CI: −0.01, 0.03; p = 0.6962). The FWC, which was widely attributed to structural racism, appears to have had a greater impact, overall, on outcomes for babies born to Black people. However, given the frequency of highly publicized examples of anti-Black racism over the study period, it is difficult to disentangle the effects of the FWC from the effects of other racialized stressors.

Building on nascent literature examining the health-related effects of vicarious structural racism, we examined indirect exposure to the Flint Water Crisis (FWC) as a predictor of birth outcomes in Michigan communities outside of Flint, where residents were not directly exposed to lead-contaminated water. Using linear regression models, we analyzed records for all singleton live births in Michigan from 2013 to 2016, excluding Flint, to determine whether birth weight (BW), gestational age (GA), and size-for-gestational-age (SzGA) decreased among babies born to Black people, but not among babies born to White people, following the highly publicized January 2016 emergency declaration in Flint. In adjusted regression models, BW and SzGA were lower for babies born to both Black and White people in the 37 weeks following the emergency declaration compared to the same 37-week periods in the previous 3 years. There were no racial differences in the association of exposure to the emergency declaration with BW or SzGA. Among infants born to Black people, GA was 0.05 weeks lower in the 37-week period following the emergency declaration versus the same 37-week periods in the previous 3 years (95% CI: −0.09, −0.01; p = 0.0177), while there was no change in GA for infants born to White people following the emergency declaration (95% CI: −0.01, 0.03; p = 0.6962). The FWC, which was widely attributed to structural racism, appears to have had a greater impact, overall, on outcomes for babies born to Black people. However, given the frequency of highly publicized examples of anti-Black racism over the study period, it is difficult to disentangle the effects of the FWC from the effects of other racialized stressors.

The zip archive contains the data, the codes, and the instructions to reproduce the main results and the appendix of the paper "Revealing ``Mafia Inc."? Financial Crisis, Organized Crime, and the Birth of New Enterprises"

In 1900, the present-day region of Yemen had a total fertility rate of approximately 6.9 children per woman, meaning that women born in Yemen at this time could expect to have approximately seven children over the course of their reproductive years. Contrary to global trends, Yemeni fertility increased throughout most of the 20th century, peaking at almost nine births per woman in the 1980s; between 1977 and 1994, Yemen had the highest fertility rate in the world, and no other country is ever estimated to have had a fertility rate exceeding 8.5 births per woman. Various reasons have been cited for this increase, primarily child marriage, lack of literacy or educational opportunities for women, and the wars within and between the partitioned Yemeni states in the 1970s and 1980s.

Following Yemen’s unification in the 1990s, the total fertility rate began to fall significantly. Despite ongoing violence and political turmoil, advancements in healthcare and humanitarian aid helped Yemen's fertility rate drop below seven births per woman at the end of the 20th century, and below four births per woman in the year 2020. The decline has slowed in the past five years, however, due to the Yemen Civil War which began in 2014. Yemen is currently experiencing what is arguably the most severe humanitarian crisis in the world, and its healthcare system has been almost decimated through war, famine and the lack of water or sanitation; it remains to be seen how these estimates may change in the coming years, given the long-term impact of the civil war and the humanitarian crisis.

Socio-demographic characteristics of ever-married women who had at least one live birth in the five years preceding the survey (weighted sample size = 2432 & unweighted sample size = 2414).

Canada continues to experience a serious opioid overdose crisis. Across the country, it is having devastating effects on families and communities. The impact of the crisis on the Canadian population can be measured in different ways.

Number and Percentage of mothers and their use of maternal health services.

As per the latest report of Cognitive Market Research, The size of the global market for fertility tests was estimated at USD $ 1.32 Billion in 2022 and is anticipated to grow to USD $ 1.86 Billion by 2030, at a CAGR of 4.4% from 2022 to 2030. Factors Affecting Fertility Testing Market Growth

Rising Average Age of First-time Pregnancies

The fertility test market is anticipated to grow due to rising number of patients. According to the market study, the average age of first pregnancies has increased significantly globally as an outcome of the decline in first pregnancies among adolescent girls and the rise in first conceptions among women over 30. Women around the world are increasingly preferring to postpone their initial pregnancies; according to the OECD, women give birth at an average age of 30 or more; thus, the market’s expansion is fueled by the rising number of first-time pregnancies. Lowers rates of male and female fertility, and greater knowledge of cutting-edge fertility testing techniques are driving the fertility test market.

Restraining Factor of Fertility Testing

Lower precision of ovulation prediction kits 

The fertility test market will restrain the market growth due to use of ovulation prediction kits, The luteinizing hormone (LH) surge occurring every 24-36 hours during ovulation is measured by ovulation prediction kits. However, ovulation cannot be precisely confirmed using these kits. Ovulation predictors are not accurate in cases like luteinized unruptured follicle syndrome. Only LH can be detected by ovulation monitors; Additionally, the urine is ineffective when it contains the fertility medicine Pergonal or the hormone HCG (human chorionic gonadotropin). The fact that these kits do not work for women in their 40s (particularly those who are close to menopause) due to elevated levels of LH is another significant disadvantage. These drawbacks of ovulation monitors reduce their predictive power, which is preventing end users from using them.

Current Trends on Fertility Test Market Technology:

Technological development in fertility test market technology:

Nowadays, a lot of businesses and organizations host annual events like camps to educate people about fertility testing. Moreover, the market for fertility testing may expand due to the introduction of increasingly advanced tools and changes in lifestyle. For instance, Modern fertility introduced the pregnancy and ovulation test kit. In order to collect all data regarding fertility, they also released an exclusive app. The company's effort to bring fertility into popular wellness is aided by the app, which helps in reading and recording test results. Similarly, Proov's at-home ovulation testing kit was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in March 2020. The revised Ovusense app (OvuSense V.2) was released by Fertility Focus Limited in May 2019. It has improved accuracy and flexibility in data. However, the market for fertility tests may be constrained by the ovulation monitors' dubious accuracy in PCOS/PCOD patients.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the fertility test Technology Market:

The outbreak of COVID-19 has witnessed a significant impact on the fertility test market's growth. The pregnancy kit market has been affected by the pandemic in various ways on the one hand, many couples anticipated getting conceived during the epidemic because of the extra time the lockdowns offered. On the other hand, several organizations predict that the COVID-19 economic crisis will have an impact on birth rates, resulting in fewer million babies, as well as associated unemployment, an increase in marital violence, and decreased access to healthcare during the antenatal period. According to the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology, all fertility patients are thinking about All patients considering or planning treatment.COVID-19 is predicted to have a substantial market share in the fertility test market. Introduction of Fertility Testing

The market for ovulation tests gives people the chance to find out if they can get pregnant naturally or not. A medical and physical assessment called a fertility test measures a person’s capacity to conceive naturally. Growing older is one of the factors that might impair fertility; therefore, women and men who are 35 or older and are having trouble becoming pregnant even after s...

The number of people living on French territory who were born abroad has increased steadily since 2010. That year, the number of people born outside France was approximately *** million. The 2015 refugee crisis did not change the curve, with the number of people born abroad increasing linearly over the years throughout the decade of 2010. In 2023, this number was **** million.

BackgroundHomebirth preference is the intention/plan to give birth outside health facilities with the help of unskilled birth attendants. The preference to give birth at home without a skilled birth attendant leads to care-seeking delays, intrapartum mortality, multiple stillbirths, and postpartum morbidities and mortality. Therefore, this study aimed to estimate the pooled prevalence of homebirth preference and associated factors among pregnant women in Ethiopia.MethodsSearch of Google Scholar, Medline, PubMed, Cochrane Library and Web of Science were done for this study from 20th August 2022 to 6th November 2022. For data extraction and analysis, the standardized data extraction checklist and Stata version 14 were used respectively. Sentence as “Cochrane Q test statistics and I2 statistics were used to check heterogeneity of the studies. The pooled prevalence of homebirth preference was estimated using a random-effects model. The association between homebirth preference and independent variables was determined using an odd ratio with a 95% confidence interval. A funnel plot and Egger’s test were used to assess publication bias.ResultsA total of 976 research articles were identified. Seven studies that fulfilled eligibility criteria were included in this systematic review and meta-analysis. The pooled prevalence of homebirth preference in Ethiopia was 39.62% (95% CI 27.98, 51.26). The current meta-analysis revealed that average monthly income

The study charted Finnish views on family policy and included themes such as family benefits, taxation, parenting, gender roles and work-life balance. Data collection was funded by Alli Paasikivi Foundation (80%) and Suomen kotien kukkasrahasto foundation (20%). Many of the questions in this survey have also been presented, for instance, in the previous Family Barometer (FSD2793). The respondents' views were surveyed on how tax income should specifically be allocated if it was used to support families with children (e.g. on day care services, child health care), and the importance of various measures that could be taken to improve the circumstances of families with children. Views were surveyed on the ideal number of children, plans to have more children, and reasons for not planning to have more children (e.g. own health, uncertain employment situation). The respondents were also asked whether their plans related to having a child would change if family benefits and services were improved. Opinions were surveyed on the level of child benefit and child home care allowance as well as the length of parental leave and part-time child care leave. Other questions related to part-time child care leave charted whether the respondents had been on the leave with their youngest child and for how long, whether spouse had been on the leave, reasons for being on the leave a longer or shorter time than desired, and reasons for not taking the leave (e.g. negative attitude of employer, new job). The respondents were asked the age at which a child is ready to be cared for outside the home, and to what extent they agreed with a number of statements relating to gender roles and significance of children and family. Views were investigated on the reasons for the fact that many Finns either postponed parenthood or did not have children at all. Finally, the respondents were asked which potential changes to family leave they found acceptable and how the state had succeeded in improving the well-being of families and children. Background variables included, among others, the respondent's date of birth, gender, mother tongue, region of residence, marital status, household composition, level of education, economic activity and occupational status, political party choice, self-perceived social class, and personal gross annual income. Further background variables included the spouse's year of birth and education, the mother tongues of the members of the household, household size, number and ages of children in the household, gross annual income of the household, and the respondent's/family's financial situation.

From now until 2100, India and China will remain the most populous countries in the world, however China's population decline has already started, and it is on course to fall by around 50 percent in the 2090s; while India's population decline is projected to begin in the 2060s. Of the 10 most populous countries in the world in 2100, five will be located in Asia, four in Africa, as well as the United States. Rapid growth in Africa Rapid population growth across Africa will see the continent's population grow from around 1.5 billion people in 2024 to 3.8 billion in 2100. Additionally, unlike China or India, population growth in many of these countries is not expected to go into decline, and instead is expected to continue well into the 2100s. Previous estimates had projected these countries' populations would be much higher by 2100 (the 2019 report estimated Nigeria's population would exceed 650 million), yet the increased threat of the climate crisis and persistent instability is delaying demographic development and extending population growth. The U.S. as an outlier Compared to the nine other largest populations in 2100, the United States stands out as it is more demographically advanced, politically stable, and economically stronger. However, while most other so-called "advanced countries" are projected to see their population decline drastically in the coming decades, the U.S. population is projected to continue growing into the 2100s. This will largely be driven by high rates of immigration into the U.S., which will drive growth despite fertility rates being around 1.6 births per woman (below the replacement level of 2.1 births per woman), and the slowing rate of life expectancy. Current projections estimate the U.S. will have a net migration rate over 1.2 million people per year for the remainder of the century.

The aim of this study was to examine ratios of burial to baptism, crude birth, death and marriage rates, and to identify years of demographic crisis. Also examined are ratios of male to female baptisms, by months and by years, the ratios of multiple to single births, and of illegitimate to legitimate births.

In the Cook Islands in 2024, the population decreased by about 2.24 percent compared to the previous year, making it the country with the highest population decline rate in 2024. Of the 20 countries with the highest rate of population decline, the majority are island nations, where emigration rates are high (especially to Australia, New Zealand, and the United States), or they are located in Eastern Europe, which suffers from a combination of high emigration rates and low birth rates.

IntroductionThe first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic saw the reconfiguration of perinatal and maternity services, national lockdowns, and social distancing measures which affected the perinatal experiences of new and expectant parents. This study aimed to explore the occurrence of postpartum anxieties in people who gave birth during the pandemic.MethodsAn exploratory concurrent mixed-methods design was chosen to collect and analyse the quantitative and qualitative data of an online survey during the first UK lockdown. The survey included the Postpartum Specific Anxiety Scale–Research Short Form–for use in global Crises [PSAS-RSF-C] psychometric tool, and open-ended questions in relation to changes in birth plans and feelings about those changes and giving birth in a pandemic. Differences in measured scores were analysed for the participant’s ethnicity, sexual orientation and disability using independent Student’s t-tests, and for age, the analysis was completed using Pearson’s correlation. Qualitative data from open-ended questions were analysed using a template analysis.ResultsA total of 1,754 new and expectant parents completed the survey between 10th and 24th April 2020, and 381 eligible postnatal women completed the psychometric test. We found 52.5% of participants reported symptoms consistent with a diagnosis of postnatal anxiety–significantly higher than the rates usually reported. Younger women and sexual minority women were more likely to score highly on the PSAS-RSF-C than their older or heterosexual counterparts (p

BackgroundPregnant people are vulnerable to more severe outcomes of COVID-19 compared with their non-pregnant counterparts. Research is needed to systematically test the degree to which COVID-19 during pregnancy increases the risk for adverse maternal, perinatal, and infant health and development outcomes and whether social determinants of health or psychological/psychosocial health outcomes confound or intensify the risk. This protocol paper describes a prospective cohort study using electronic health record (EHR) and patient-reported data from four large health systems in Pennsylvania to examine neighborhood, social, and health factors predicting COVID-19 and its severity, birth weight, gestational age, and vaccination among pregnant people to 12 months postpartum.MethodsOur study will be conducted with two aims. Aim 1 will combine maternal and infant clinical data and neighborhood data from four health systems in Pennsylvania participating in a PCORI-supported clinical research network. The cohort will include all people who were pregnant between June 2019 and May 2025, along with linkage to their newborn delivery records. In Aim 2, a subset of pregnant people from the Aim 1 cohort will be recruited to participate in a series of surveys from pregnancy to one year postpartum. Survey instruments will be developed to collect patient-reported health and social information as well as patient-centered outcomes depicting whether and how the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting pregnant people and their newborns. Survey data will be collected during pregnancy and at one, six, and 12 months postpartum. Survey data will be linked with data from Aim 1 for analysis.ResultsEthical approval has been obtained at all sites. Subcontracts and data use agreements have been established. EHR data across health systems are being collected and curated. Surveys have been developed and recruitment and retention procedures implemented. Recruitment for the survey aim of the study began in July 2023 and is ongoing.DiscussionThis study will advance multi-site research involving pregnant people across diverse communities in a time of public health crisis. Data from this study will provide additional evidence of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on pregnant people and their infants. Findings will help guide future clinical and public health practices in pandemics for pregnant people.