Population decline

A dramatic demographic deterioration was one of the many factors that contributed to the fall of Constantinople in 1453 and the collapse of the centuries-old Byzantine Empire. The city's population had shrunk dramatically, and especially with regard to younger age groups.

Billionaire Elon Musk addressed Greece's low birth rate in a post on Platform X on Monday. 

Musk referenced concerns about "population collapse" by sharing a screenshot from a relevant article from the US independent broadcasting media The People's Voice.

On current trends the world population will reach a high of 8.8 billion before the middle of the century, then decline rapidly

Immigration is a topic that is sure to animate any political discussion and campaign. Unmanaged it risks elevating the extreme right to positions of power. And yet the flip side of all this is an enormous opportunity to boost Western liberal democracy and infuse it with the dynamism it now lacks.

European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson said in Athens on Monday that Europe's productive population is decreasing by one million every year. The problem is even greater in Greece. Firstly, there is the negative birth and death ratio, signaling an annual population decrease of approximately 50,000 individuals - totaling 1,250,000 people by 2050.

Greece's resident population dropped to 10,413,982 individuals on January 1, 2023, down 0.5% relative to the previous year, data from the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) has shown.

The population decline, ELSTAT said, is the result of the natural decrease in the population, where deaths (139,921) outnumbered live births (75,921) but net migration amounted to 16,355 persons.

Showing off their awkward moves in shirts, ties and brightly colored belly warmers, four men in their 50s and 60s have become Japan's latest TikTok sensation.

The group's mission? To promote their small countryside town, whose population is in decline, through dance routines to pop tunes that fans call "adorable."

Japan logged a record low number of newborn babies in 2021, as the nation's demographic crisis intensifies, the government said in a report on Friday.

Data compiled by Tomas Sobotka, a leading demographer, show that birth rates in Europe have shown signs of recovery in the last few months. Whether or not this trend continues will depend on how lasting the social and economic impacts of the pandemic will be.

This is the latest in a series of articles about the demographic crisis facing Central and Southeast Europe. See more.

But serious analysis of the region's demographic decline, depopulation and the hollowing out of the labour force is harder to find. Possibly this is because governments have neither credible answers nor the resources available to change things.