SYDNEY MORNING HERALD - Jan 15 - Taiwan's fertility rate, the average number of children born to its women in their lifetime, fell to 0.91 last year, far below the rate of 2.1 needed to sustain population size. Hong Kong has one of the lowest fertility rates in the world, and faces a population decline from 7M to about 6M by mid-century. Japan's population shrank by a record 123K people last year. From a peak of 128M in 2006, the Japanese population will shrink to under 100M by mid-century, by which time its over-65s will have grown from 25% of population to ~40%. Registered marriages last year were the fewest since 1954. In mainland China, population is still growing and will peak about 2030 at ~1.39 billion - 1.46 billion. Australians and Americans are keeping their end up in baby production, with fertility rates close to two children per woman, and high immigration rates. By mid-century we are likely to see 36M people in Australia (from the present 22.5M) and 439M in the US (from 310M). FULL ARTICLE @ SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
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