On World Population Day, a new report has suggested the world population will decline rapidly after the year 2100.
World Population Day is observed every year on the 11th of July, and this year a new report has revealed that the global population will reach a high of 8.8 billion before the middle of the century.
Experts then expect that it will decline rapidly after the year 2100.
Speaking to The Pat Kenny Show, Maynooth University Professor of Geography Mary Gilmartin said the decline will most likely be evident in countries such as China.
"That's connected to the longer-term impacts of the one-child policy," she said.
"In countries like Russia, Germany, and so on, the reason for a decline in population will be a reduction in the fertility rates – the number of children that women are having."
Busy street in Madurai, India (Madeleine Jettre / Alamy Stock Photo)Decline
Professor Gilmartin said the lowering of fertility rates will likely be due to increased education access for women internationally.
"Fertility rates tend to drop as girls are getting more access to education, so, that's probably the case here," she said.
Fertility rates are also linked to greater security surrounding pregnancy and childbirth, as well as childcare costs.
"In Ireland, as in other countries, we can see those structural issues around the cost of childcare, around the cost of housing, around the kinds of things that people try and put in place to have a secure base for having children," she said.
The busy street scene at Baker Street Station London with Madame Tussauds. Image shot 04/2009. (Scott Hortop Travel / Alamy Stock Photo)Ireland
Professor Gilmartin said the "dependency ratio" in Ireland is causing an ageing population.
"The dependency ratio is the proportion of people in a population that is seen as economically active – so, between 18 and 65 and the proportion outside those – our dependency ratio is changing, in particular, because our population is ageing," she said.
"We need to be planning in particular for an ageing population because the percentage of people aged over 65 in Ireland went up from 13% in 2016 to 15% in 2022."
Older population
Professor Gilmartin said Government must prepare for a larger collection of the population to be pension-dependant.
"When people are retired and living on pensions, they may not have much variation in income levels, so it's very difficult for them to cope with rent increases in particular," she said.
"Planning around housing, around care, around social care, and around health care for older people is important.
"Whatever about Governmental desire to take this on as a priority, we have a permanent civil service who should be paying attention to it as well.
"We can see the dangers and difficulties of not planning adequately for the future in terms of what's happening with housing and healthcare right now."
Shops on Grafton Street in the city centre, Dublin City, Republic of Ireland (Ian Dagnall / Alamy Stock Photo)Migration
Professor Gilmartin said there may be difficulties with large parts of the world becoming "uninhabitable" due to rising global temperatures.
"It's really hard for people to continue living in places that they traditionally have lived," she said.
"That's something that we also need to plan for in terms of migration policy across Europe in general."
