Asia on the decline

By Samantha Singson | December 13, 2010

Last week it was Vietnam. This week it’s Japan. Europe and now Asia are seeing the devastating social and economic results of demographic decline.

Lifesitenews.com is reporting that Japan’s economy is in “deep trouble” because of a rapidly shrinking working-age population.

With high life expectancy rates and a below-replacement fertility level of 1.4, “The effects of Japan’s imploding population are not only felt in per-capita productivity, but also the social security system, which is threatened by a growing imbalance between workers and retirees.”

Just last week, Lifesite reported on the social effects of a demographically-imbalanced population in Vietnam where ultrasound technology and easy access to abortion is fueling a gender imbalance.

Bruce Campbell of UNFPA, an agency dedicated to promoting contraception and family planning, said that Vietnam laments that the imbalanced sex ratio “could fuel the sex work trade as well as trafficking.”

In its latest alert, the agency warns that if the current trend continues unchecked, the national sex ratio at birth (SRB) will reach 115 boys for ever 100 girls in only four years, and the adult SRB will reach 113 by 2049.

Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter