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I think you're leaving out one of the biggest. Immigration is the main factor keeping many western nations out of population decline. Japan is fairly xenophobic and not really big on immigration.

The US for instance has an aging population and Americans don't have many kids anymore. Immigrants have bigger families at least for a couple generations and slow the decline.

True. I wouldn't want to live and work in Japan.

Completely agree about the birthrate needing to decline, however Japan is in a worse position due to Japan's fertility rate stands at 1.3, while the United States is at 1.6. US also some what plugs the gap with significantly higher legal and illegal immigration than Japan. Japanese tend to live longer as well. So they are ending up more lopsided than the US when it comes to age spread.

Infinite growth capitalism goes brrr

Ironically the nations who are already saturated with a modern day standard of living are declining, while the most populous nations on earth are both thirsting for more.

The people who are most likely to be already past the growth mindset are declining, the people who care more about consuming like a westerner than the environment are only just getting started.

You would want a slow decline though rather then a total plummet, otherwise you’ll end up with a bunch of older folks and not enough younger ones to support them.

Yeah and it helps support and integrate migrants, which is nice.