Demographic Change: A Fateful Challenge

As long ago as August 2006 at a federal press conference Angela Merkel stated “anyone who knows how to successfully manage demographic change is to be congratulated”. Today, ten years later, the need to confront the challenges posed by demographic change has not lost its urgency.

by Gerhard Wahlers

An Interjection

During the 25-year period from 1991 to 2015, an estimated 23.7 million people immigrated to Germany while 18.7 emigrated, immigrants therefore outnumbering emigrants by some five million. The fact that Germany’s population only experienced a modest increase from 81 to around 82 million during the same period is mainly due to deaths exceeding births by a good three million, which means that the immigrants made up for the falling birth rate to a considerable extent.

by Meinhard Miegel

The Impact of Demographic Factors on Political Stability in the Middle East and North Africa

The area comprising the Middle East and North Africa is among the most crisis-ridden regions in the world. One of the key issues is that the increasingly better-educated population of working age individuals has been growing faster than the number of jobs for some time now. If the affected states do not succeed in significantly reducing this discrepancy, political instability and therefore the number of refugees and migrants from the region will continue to increase, which will also have unforeseen repercussions for Europe.

by Reiner Klingholz, Ruth Müller

Israel and Its Growing Minorities

Since Israel was founded in 1948, it has defined itself simultaneously as both a Jewish and a democratic state. It is home to secular as well as ultra-Orthodox Jews, Muslims, Christians and Druze. However, due to diverging growth rates in the different populations, domestic and religious tensions have been developing which could undermine the secular and Zionist founding ethos of the Jewish State.

by Anna Jandrey, Eva Keeren Caro

The Potential Consequences of the Rapid Population Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa

The African sub-Saharan countries are demographically a special case. In the course of the 20ᵗʰ century population has admittedly also grown in other areas of the world, but this process did not take place anywhere near as rapidly as in these states. If the population boom of the 20ᵗʰ century should be followed by a second one in the 21ˢᵗ century, its impacts would not stay limited to the African continent alone.

by Serge Michailof

The Rapid Ageing of Latin American Societies as a Socio-Political Issue

Currently, only around 40 per cent of Latin American citizens age 65 and over receive a regular (contributory) pension; a further 20 per cent receive a non-contributory (tax funded) state pension. The remaining elderly must continue to earn a living or rely on support from family members. While the region still has a relatively young population today, the number of people age 65-plus is set to increase to 140 million by 2050, up from under 40 million in 2010.

by Karl-Dieter Hoffmann

Japan’s Demographic Change as a Major Challenge for Politics and Society

Like no other industrialised nation Japan is confronted with the challenges of a rapidly ageing and shrinking population. Today, more than a quarter of the Japanese population is already over age 65. Along with a stagnating economy that is even failing to gain momentum through the acclaimed Abenomics, Japan’s demographic change is the biggest problem for the island nation. What measures is the government adopting to halt the demographic crisis? Is it perhaps already too late for counter measures?

by Akim Enomoto, Hannes Bublitz