by Obianuju Mbah, Christian Today
The world is undergoing a profound demographic shift. According to new analysis from Pew Research, fertility rates have fallen sharply in every region since 1950 – a trend reshaping societies from Asia to Europe and increasingly raising alarm in governments.
Pew’s review of data from the UN and Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) shows that Latin America and the Caribbean have seen fertility drop from 5.8 births per woman in 1950 to approximately 1.8 in 2025.
Africa, long the outlier with the highest global fertility, has declined from 6.5 to 4.0 in the same period, with projections that it too will approach replacement level later this century.
Meanwhile, North America and Europe are among the lowest worldwide, respectively averaging 1.6 and 1.4 births per woman.
China now sits at just 1.0 – one of the lowest rates ever recorded. The UK, however, is following the same trajectory.
Just last week, official statistics confirmed that fertility in England and Wales dropped again to 1.41 in 2024 – the lowest level on record. Scotland recorded 1.25, also a historic low.
The average age of mothers has now risen to 31, compared with 29 two decades ago, while fathers are approaching an average age of 34.
Speaking to The Financial Times, Oxford University professor of demography Melinda Mills explained that job insecurity, gender inequality, and the struggle to juggle work with family life are pushing many women to postpone motherhood — or to forgo it altogether. She added that unstable relationships are also part of the picture.
Experts warn these shifts will have far-reaching consequences.