Colombia is among the countries that have experienced the largest reduction in its birth rate between 2022 and 2023.The country is fourth, after Poland, Ireland and the Czech Republic, in which fewer women are giving birth.
On the other hand, in developing countries such as the Philippines, Thailand and Malaysia the birth rate is growing. while in most of the world it falls.
This is shown in a compilation published by The New York Times on the percentage of births between 2022 and 2023. In the case of Colombia, they see that there was a fall of 9.3%, then the Czech Republic saw a contraction of 10%, similar to Ireland with 10.3% and Poland with 10.5%.
Even billionaire Elon Musk, through his X account, defined the birth situation in the world as “demographic collapse is accelerating.”
Musk’s publication goes hand in hand with the figures from international organizations that have warned of a drop in birth rates.The number of babies is decreasing. According to the World Bank, in the 1960s, on average, a woman gave birth to more than five children globally, but in 2023, this figure dropped to just 2.3.
Among developed and developing economies, there are also warning signs. In June, the OECD released its most recent demographic data, showing that the Total Fertility Rate, TFR, fell from 3.3 children per woman in 1960 to just 1.5 children per woman in 2022, on average across the bloc’s countries.
Among the countries evaluated in the OECD, the one with the lowest birth rate is South Korea with an estimated 0.7 children per woman in 2023. Next is Italy and Spain, with 1.2 children per woman in 2022. While Colombia is above average with 1.7, but still low for what is classified as replacement level/rate, “2.1 children per woman are necessary to maintain a constant population in the absence of migration,” as defined by the OECD.
In the international organization, the countries that surpass Colombia are Mexico (1.8) and Israel (2.8), that in fact this exceeds the replacement rate and is the country with the highest fertility rate.
At the local level, the DANE has closely followed the decline in births. During the first four months of 2024, the country had the lowest number of births occurring between January 1 and April 30 of each year over the past decade.
In the final result, in the first four months of the year there were a total of 145,416 live births, which means a reduction of 14.6% in the volume of births, compared to the same period in 2023, which corresponds to 24,789 fewer births, says the Dane report.
