For subscribers
A shrinking world will turn our problems upside down
The political and economic priorities of a depopulating society could be very different from today’s.
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Recent research also suggests that our cognitive abilities are more malleable than once thought, says the writer.
PHOTO: ST FILE
Sarah O’Connor
Follow topic:
The era of global depopulation is coming, and sooner than we once thought. According to the United Nations’ latest projections, there is now an 80 per cent probability that the number of people on earth will peak in this century then begin to decline, compared with a 30 per cent probability a decade ago.
For one in four of us, that future is already here. A quarter of the people in the world live in countries whose populations have already peaked, including China, Germany and Japan. Between now and 2054, the UN expects them to be joined by many others, including Brazil and Vietnam.
