Although world population has been increasing, especially in the developing world, at an unprecedented rate since the Second World War and there is dismay at the international level about the fast pace of population growth, some of the European countries are facing an opposite trend in their population.
The salient features of the Europe’s population are as follows:
1. It is older than that of any other continent.
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2. Population of many of the European countries like Germany, Russia, Ukraine, etc. is stagnating or declining.
3. The fertility rates in most of the countries in Europe were below the replacement level in 2011. None of the European countries, except Albania, Bosnia and Latvia, is at present is replacing its population through natural increase.
4. The annual rate of natural increase in all the countries of Europe except Albania and Iceland are below 0.5 per cent, as against the world rate of 1.4 per cent.
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5. Germany has the oldest population in the world with small proportion of young (15%) and large share of middle-aged (66%) and 19 per cent retired people over 65 years of age.
6. Europe’s population has begun to decline since 1990.
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During the last three decades, the demographers of Europe emphasized on zero population growth—a condition achieved when births plus immigration equals deaths plus emigration.
An exact equation of birth and death means an increasing proportion of older citizens, fewer young people, and a rise in the median age of the population.
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The zero growth rate of population is creating many problems for the society and economy in Europe. Some of these problems are:
(i) In some areas, not only kindergarten, nurseries and schools are being closed, colleges and universities have also been cut to the bone in the face of permanently reduced demand.
(ii) It is projected that by the end of 2015 the present unemployment situation will be replaced by a shortage of workers. Germany, Belgium, Greece, Italy, Spain and Portugal are already facing this problem.
(iii) There will be more burdens on the government exchequers as they shall have to provide pensions and social services for about 20 per cent of their citizens who are more than 65 years of age. Already in Germany there are four pensioners for every ten workers, and it is hoped that by 2025 the number of pensioners will be half to that of workers.
If the present pattern of population growth (which is almost zero in most of the European countries) is not reversed, the consequences may be serious and catastrophic, which may endanger the very survival of Europeans.
Population Policies in Europe:
The size of population, its structure, composition and growth rate as well as the migration pattern in a country are closely influenced by the population policy of the respective government. Each country has its own population policy. These policies range from encouragement for high fertility to varying degrees of discouragement. Some of the developed countries, such as Canada, USA, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Singapore, follow the policy of slow growth, also known as the policy of pronatalism.
In these countries, the population growth rate is below one per cent. This means that their populations are near the replacement level and the birth and death rates are almost equal. In other words, the next generation of children will be about the same size as the parental generation.
Contrary to this, some of the Afro-Asian and Latin American countries follow the policy to reduce the size of population, while in Germany, Russia, Romania, Italy, Austria, France, UK, etc., where the growth rate is around or below 0.1 per cent the governments are adopting the policies of population increase. In a nutshell, the population policies in different countries have been formulated to achieve either of the following objectives:
(i) To reduce the population growth rate not necessarily to zero;
(ii) To stabilize the population by achieving a zero population growth rate; and
(iii) To achieve a negative rate of growth with a view to reduce the size of population.
There is a consensus among the scholars of population geography and demography that the only preventive way of achieving any of the above objectives would be to reduce the birth rate instead of permitting the death rate to increase.
The scholars are also unanimous that rapid growth of population in the developing countries need to be curbed and for this purpose limiting the births is the best policy.