Thoughts on world population day 2026 and what might come next

Happy World Population Day to all who celebrate. I’m writing about this topic because demographics are an essential tool in the futurist’s toolkit. We now have a lot of data on population, between government efforts, professional demographers’ work, and insurance companies. Demographics aren’t destiny, as the old saw goes, but they have a strong influence. My readers are likely familiar with my focus on this topic. Last year I posted about World Pop Day and reflected on many demographic issues, from the great demographic transition to its implications for national politics, warfighting, economics, higher education, and technology. I won’t recap all of that here; if you’re curious or new to the topic, please check it out. Today I’d like to offer more informed futurist speculation on how changing demographics might change the world. First, some updates from the past year. There haven’t been any surprises for those of us studying the topic. The demographic transition (fewer babies,…