http://michaelturton.blogspot.com/2009/09/taiwan-has-worlds-lowest-fertility-rate.html The Population Reference Bureau put out a report that garnered some attention in Taiwan today. It observes of the island's Total Fertility Rate (TFR): Asia is projected to add the most people by mid-century, with an increase of 1.3 billion over its 2009 population of 4 billion. This population growth is anticipated despite substantial declines in birth rates in many Asian countries. Today, China and India account for nearly two-thirds of the region ’s population, and in 2050 their share will only be slightly less. But it will be India that will grow substantially by 2050. China’s population size will decline well before 2050 if current projections hold true. Should China change its “one-child” policy, a different picture could emerge. Asia is also home to several other countries with very low TFRs. Taiwan currently has the world’s lowest, at 1.0 children per woman, while South Korea has a TFR of 1.2. These countries have expressed concern over population decline and extreme aging in their societies. In Japan, the official population projection anticipates that 40 percent of the population could be 65 and older by 2050. India to overtake China, too. A planet full of primate breeders, as if the world had no physical limits. A powerpoint presentation on population trends is also available, more focused on the US. The data sheet is here, note the geographic distribution of child poverty rates in the US (Red States, of course). According to their data, Taiwan's net rate of increase is just 0.2%, and it is expected the island's population will be 2 million less in 2050 if current trends continue. Of course, they will all be crowded on the tip of Yushan since the island will be underwater at that point.... Speaking more seriously, one wonders if this plummeting fertility rate represents the population bumping up against the limits of the local strategy of educating the heck out of their children, a strategy that has become increasingly expensive, perhaps too expensive to sustain. Or is it the fact that so many women are choosing not to get married, or to get married very late and have very few children? Or what? Inquiring minds want to know... Kudos to PRB: none of this "Taiwan, province of China" bullshit. --

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