Demographics

Global youth unemployment is at its lowest level for 15 years, the United Nations said on Monday, though not all regions have yet recovered from the COVID-19 slump.

The number of 15- to 24-year-olds who are not in employment, education or training (NEET) is concerning, the U.N.'s labor agency said, adding that the post-COVID-19 pandemic recovery has not been universal in all regions.

The share of the elderly population surpassed 10 percent for the first time in the country's history in 2023, with projections indicating it could reach 31.7 percent by 2075, according to data released by the country's statistical institution on July 30.

Türkiye's population witnessed a modest increase of 92,824 individuals to reach 85.37 million in 2023, with the growth rate marking its lowest point in 15 years, according to data released by state statistics agency TÜİK.

A Eurostat projection indicates that the age structure of Slovenia's population will change significantly in the coming decades as population ageing accelerates. In 2100, the elderly are expected to account for a third of the country's population, which is forecast to decline by some 7% in the next eight decades.

It is no secret that Europe has been struggling to come to an agreement on a pan-European migration policy since the 2015 migration "crisis." Public and political sentiments on the topic have swung from the left to the right over the years, resulting in the latest, trimmed-down New Pact on Migration and Asylum proposal that is currently being debated in Brussels.

The planet's population is expected to grow to around 10 billion before the end of the 21st century, according to United Nations projections. But this cannot be said for Europe, which, according to the same estimates, will see its numbers shrink to 7.3% of the world by 2050 from 22% in 1950 and 9.5% today.

Anxieties about "too few" people are particularly strong in Eastern Europe, where low fertility rates are compounded by high levels of emigration. As a result, country's populations have been shrinking, in some cases by more than 25 per cent since the early 1990s.

Breaking with the age-old traditions, the family in Greece will in the future be less able to perform the role of safety cushion, taking care of the elderly when they can no longer live independently, due to demographic trends.

Greece is the only country among 81 states that is expected to have reduced spending on its aging population by 2060, which shows that the social security reform during the fiscal streamlining decade will bear fruit in the long run. On its own, however, it is not enough.

Globally, Muslims have the highest fertility rate of any religious group