EconAir

  INTRODUCTION   Japan gets special consideration because it is further along the demographics declining population curve than any other large country. Unless there are major changes in healthcare technology, immigration, public policy, and birth rates, most industrialized countries will follow Japan down the path of declining and aging populations, and smaller labor forces. Japan's demographics and immigration have become major political issues. In the July 2025 elections, two right-wing parties made substantial gains against the long-ruling Liberal  Democracy Party. Two of their main issues were the rapid rise of immigration and the repeal of a 10% consumption tax used to pay for the rising costs of supporting the aged. Both parties appealed to young voters.     PROJECTIONS   Japan’s current (2024) population is around 122 million people. This is the 15 th  year of population decline, down from a high of 128 million. The yearly decreases so...

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  SUMMARY   Global population has more than doubled since 1970, going from 3.7 billion to the current (November, 2023) total of 8.0 billion (UN numbers). The  Lancet  long-term projection is that world population will peak around 9.7 billion in the 2060s and then begin to decline, reaching around 8.8 billion people in 2100.   In the most recent United Nations projection (2024), global population is expected to peak at about 10.3 billion sometime in the 2080s and then fall to 10.2 billion in 2100.    Compared to the present, Africa is expected to have about 2.2 billion more people in 2100. The rest of the world is expected to see a decrease of about 1.4 billion people. One billion of the decrease will occur in China and India. The rest of the decrease will occur mostly in Europe, southeast and southern Asia, and Japan. The United States and Latin America (because of increasing population in Mexico) will see little change.   Nigeria’s population gro...