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https://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2025/feb/18/europes-population-crisis-see-how-your-country-compares-visualised>
"The rise of the far-right could speed up the population decline of Europe,
projections show, creating economic shocks including slower growth and soaring
costs from pensions and elderly care.
Anti-immigration politics is on the rise across the EU, as shown by the gains
made by far-right parties in the 2024 elections. Meanwhile, the
anti-immigration Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) is polling second in the
run-up to the German federal election this month.
But those wanting to shut Europe’s borders must contend with a stark
demographic reality: the continent’s native population is expected to fall
sharply over the next century in an era of low birth rates.
Experts warn that European societies will age more quickly without immigration,
bringing forward a host of economic challenges as workforces shrink and care
burdens grow.
“Most politicians on the centre-left and centre-right recognise that
immigration is needed to ease demographic pressures,” said John Springford, an
associate fellow at the Centre for European Reform thinktank. “They have sought
to focus on tougher – and often inhumane – asylum rules in the hope that
stricter border enforcement will provide political cover for higher regular
immigration.
“But radical right parties are increasingly challenging the mainstream
consensus. Those countries that manage to hold the line against demands to cut
working-age immigration will be in a stronger position economically in the long
run.”
The latest projections produced by Eurostat, the EU’s official statistics
agency, suggest that the bloc’s population will be 6% smaller by 2100 based on
current trends – falling to 419 million, from 447 million today.
But that decline pales in comparison with Eurostat’s scenario without
immigration. The agency projects a population decline of more than a third, to
295 million by 2100, when it excludes immigration from its modelling."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
