Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Europe sets date when deaths overtake births: 7 years

From the IHT:

But by 2050 Britons, who both reproduce more and allow more immigration, are likely to outnumber Germans and within a further 10 years France, too, should have leapfrogged its eastern neighbor in the population rankings.

The findings come in an official EU study, released Tuesday, which concedes for the first time that Europeans will begin their long foreseen demographic decline in just seven years' time - the point at which deaths exceed births.

The report, published by the European Union's statistical agency Eurostat, reveals large variations between the birth rates of member states but paints an overall picture of an aging population. [...]

Immigration would not, on current trends, make up the shortfall in the working age population, the report says.

Now with a combined total of 495 million people, the 27 nations that make up the EU would increase their population to a total of 521 million in 2035 before falling back to 506 million in 2060. [...]


I only wish they would have made a mention of the demographics of the Muslims community. What is the average number of children that Muslims are having? I can guarantee you that even without immigration they reproduce at a level that is a good ways above replacement level (2.1 children per woman).

2 comments:

Don said...

I'm positive you're correct about that. In fact, if you look at just about any population with secular and religious segments, the latter always has a higher birthrate. That's true with Evangelical Christians and Mormons in the U.S.

For places like the UK and France, the question isn't just the raw birthrate, but who's doing the birthing.

Abu Daoud said...

Which means that the number of evangelicals and conservative Catholics will also grow. But they don't have the same means (coercion, violence) to enforce conformity as Islam.