Figures from the US and Japan reveal sharp declines in birthrates, and even China may have peaked, but there are upsides

Read more: Italy’s birthrate is falling. Can the storks help?

Census data from the US released last week showed the number of babies born in the country in 2020 dropped to the lowest level in more than four decades. The same day, Japan marked Children’s Day by announcing that the number of under-14s in the country had fallen for the 40th consecutive year to a record low.

It is not just in the rich world that the appetite for having children is falling. Also in 2020, China may have recorded its first overall population decline since a catastrophic famine in the late 1950s, the Financial Times has reported, citing unpublished census data.

Related: South Korea's population falls for first time in its history

Related: Italy’s birthrate is falling. Can the storks help?