Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Bongaarts, John

Titel

Africa's Unique Fertility Transition

Ist Teil von

• Population and development review, 2017-05, Vol.43 (S1), p.39-58

Ort / Verlag

New York: Wiley Subscription Services, Inc

Erscheinungsjahr

2017

Quelle

PAIS Index

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Over the past half century substantial changes in reproductive behavior have occurred throughout the developing world, with the total fertility rate declining by 56 percent—from 6.0 to 2.7 births per woman between 1960 and 2010 (United Nations 2015). Declines have been especially rapid in Asia and Latin America over this period, but in sub-Saharan Africa (“Africa”) the fertility transition occurred later and is proceeding at a slower pace. As a result of high African fertility and declining mortality, the population of this region is now growing at a faster rate (2.5 percent per year) than other regions of the developing world. The UN projects the sub-Saharan population to grow from 0.8 billion in 2010 to 3.9 billion in 2100 (ibid.) Such an unprecedented expansion of human numbers will create a range of social, economic, and environmental challenges and make it more difficult for the continent to raise living standards. Not surprisingly, interest in and concerns about the adverse consequences of demographic trends in Africa have reached high levels among policymakers and researchers.