Global fertility is falling faster than demographers expected, the United Nations said in a report released this week. The study finds birth rates have dipped below the 2.1-child replacement threshold in most countries and are now in what the UN calls an “unprecedented decline.” Researchers surveyed more than 14,000 adults across 14 nations that together account for over a third of the world’s population. A majority of respondents said they want more children than they expect to have, citing unaffordable housing, uncertain employment, rising childcare costs and broader economic instability as the main deterrents—rather than a diminished desire for parenthood. National data underscore the scale of the shift. In France, fertility slid to 1.6 births per woman last year and annual births fell to 663,000, the fewest since the Second World War, according to a separate study by the national demographic institute Ined published 9 July. Italy’s rate dropped to 1.18 in 2024, with just six births per 1,000 inhabitants, while several Latin American and Asian countries have also recorded record lows. The UN warns that prolonged sub-replacement fertility could accelerate population ageing, strain pension systems and curb economic growth. Unless governments tackle the cost of raising children and provide greater job security, the organisation says the world population could begin to contract as early as 2055—three decades sooner than earlier UN projections.