Ranked: The World’s Fastest Shrinking Countries 1

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The World’s Fastest Shrinking Countries and Territories

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Key Takeaways

  • Many Eastern European countries (e.g., Moldova, Poland, Hungary) show negative growth, reflecting a widespread demographic trend in the region.
  • Larger economies such as Germany, Japan, China, and Italy are also shrinking, signaling that population decline is no longer limited to smaller or developing nations.

Population growth has long been viewed as a sign of prosperity, but the world is beginning to see a new trend: decline.

According to World Bank data, 42 countries and territories are now shrinking, with some experiencing quicker declines than others. In this infographic, we highlight where the fastest contractions are happening, as of 2024.

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Data & Discussion

The data for this visualization comes from the World Bank, measuring each country’s annual population growth rates for 2024. Note that the world’s overall population is still rising at an average rate of 1%.

Eastern Europe Leads in Population Decline

A significant share of shrinking countries are in Eastern Europe, with Kosovo, Moldova, and North Macedonia seeing the steepest drops.

A major reason for this trend is emigration, the act of leaving one’s country to settle in another.

Eastern Europe has experienced high rates of emigration in recent decades due to wage gaps with Western Europe, as well as EU integration (which creates a legal pathway for labor mobility).

 

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Major Economies Join the List

Another interesting trend is the inclusion of major economies like Germany, Japan, China, and Italy. While their declines are modest, the sheer size of these countries means the demographic shift could have wide-ranging global effects.

Governments are taking action to lift birth rates, but it’s too early to gauge their effectiveness.

In Japan, for instance, the government has launched a Children and Families Agency, a new administrative body that oversees things like child welfare and nursery access. Meanwhile, in China, the government has rolled out a nationwide subsidy of 3,600 yuan (roughly $500) per year for every child under the age of three.

NOTE – This article was originally published in VISUAL CAPITALIST  and can be viewed here

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