(Catholic World News) — Jesús Fernández-Villaverde, professor of economics at the University of Pennsylvania, warned in a presentation at a recent research symposium that “the global fertility crisis is worse than you think.”
“2023 was likely the first year in human history when our fertility rate fell below the replacement rate,” he said. “The world population will start falling c. 2055” — a phenomenon “never seen before, even compared to wars and pandemics.”
“The consequences for the world are momentous,” he added. “We are entering a whole new world: fertility and births are falling much faster than anyone anticipated.”
