Environment & Energy

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In recent decades, developing countries around the world have been undergoing a demographic transition, characterized by increasing levels of life expectancy at birth and declining levels of lifetime fertility. Many of these countries are now reaching levels of mortality and fertility that are similar to those seen in the more developed countries.

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1. The percentage of the world’s population living in high-fertility countries has been declining rapidly
In 1975-1980, close to a quarter of the world’s population lived in countries with high levels of fertility as defined here. Twenty years later, in 1995-2000, the share of the global population that lived in high-fertility countries had fallen to 11 per cent. In 2010-2015, 8 per cent of the global population lived in countries where women were having, on average, more than 5 births over a lifetime. Starting in 2025-2030, it is expected that less than 1 per cent of the world’s population will live in countries with such high levels of fertility.

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