THE BOTTOM LINE UP FRONT
For generations, the global economy has wired itself based on the underlying assumption that the population will continue to grow. However, this can no longer be assumed in many of the world’s largest economies—especially in Asia. Growing concerns about declining birth rates implications will impact every business and investor on the planet.
This trend has been particularly pronounced in relation to China, where the population fell by 850,000 people in 2022 to 1.411 billion according to the country’s National Bureau of Statistic. However, the issue not limited to China. Recently, officials in South Korea, Japan, Taiwan and Singapore have raised concerns about the declining birth rate in their respective country and while the trend is not limited to East and Southeast Asia, these societies are critical to the global economy, and they do not necessarily have the ability to mitigate as other countries might in Europe and North America.
If these trends do not change and are not mitigated, it could cause a burden on the affected countries that impacts these societies and their economies. As one looks at the countries listed above, one understands they are important to the global economy with Japan and South Korea as members of the G20, Taiwan a critical player for the semiconductor industry and Singapore a critical financial and economic hub.
With declining birth rate impacting a number of important countries around the globe, one should look to see what countries are not adapting to this trend and carefully think through what the impact might be in the coming decades if one is dependent on these countries for business interests.
