According to U.S. Census estimates released on Jan. 27, population growth has slowed “significantly,” with just 1.8 million more people between July 1, 2024, and July 1, 2025. That amount of population growth—just 0.5%—is the slowest rate of growth since early in the COVID-19 pandemic, when a worldwide shutdown slowed population growth to just 0.2% in 2021. And it comes after a significant uptick in 2024, when 3.2 million people were added to the U.S. population, which grew b

Thomas Robert Malthus was an influential British economist best known for his theory on population growth, outlined in his 1798 book “An Essay on the Principle of Population.” In it, Malthus argued that populations inevitably expand until they outgrow their available food supply, causing the population growth to be reversed by disease, famine, war, or calamity. He is also known for developing an exponential formula used to forecast population growth, which is currently known

Ten years ago, China eased its strict family planning policy by allowing all couples to have two children. Many expected the decision...

Japan’s prime minister Abe Shinzo called an election last November, with the campaign slogan Kono michi shika nai (There is no other...