As authorities in Europe struggle to keep asylum seekers at bay , a demographic crisis is unfolding in many countries in the continent as they desperately need more young people to populate its rural areas and look after its elderly because its societies are no longer self sustaining, according to a media report.
Spain has one of the lowest fertility rates in the EU, with an average of 1.27 children born for every woman of childbearing age, compared to the EU average of 1.55. Spain's crippling economic crisis has seen a net exodus of people from the country , as hundreds of thousands of Spaniards and migrants leave in the hope of finding jobs abroad. The result is that, since 2012, Spain's population has been shrinking, The Guardian reported.
In Portugal, the population has been shrinking since 2010.For many analysts, the question now is how low can it go, with projections by the National Statistics Institute suggesting Portugal's population could drop from 10.5 million to 6.3 million by 2060.
According to Portuguese PM Pedro Passos Coelho: "We've got really serious problems." In Italy the retired population is soaring, with the proportion of over-65s set to rise from 2.7% last year to 18.8% in 2050. Germany has the lowest birthrate in the world: 8.2 per 1,000 population between 2008 and 2013, claims a study by the Hamburg-based world economy institute, the HWWI. Coelho has said the next 10 to 15 years would be decisive in reversing the trend. If no action is taken, he said last year, "these issues will only be solved by a miracle."
Ad hoc political solutions at a national level are failing. Italy has tried to overcome its bleak demographic outlook with initiatives ranging from pension cuts to a baby bonus, but the statistics are not on their side, the report said.
Europe is facing the demographic crisis at a time when record numbers of economic migrants and asylum-seekers are seeking to enter the European Union this summer, the report noted.
(Source: PTI, London)
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