FT: Demographic time bomb looming? In 75% of the world, populations are shrinking and ageing - why it matters

In this gripping Rachman Review episode, FT's Gideon Rachman speaks to leading demographer Nicholas Eberstadt about a quietly unfolding global crisis: shrinking, ageing populations in 75% of the world. From collapsing birth rates in East Asia and South America to soaring population projections in sub-Saharan Africa, Eberstadt unpacks what this shift means for economic growth, elder care, migration, and global power dynamics -especially the future of China, the West, and Africa. Could smartphones be a new form of birth control? Will Europe compete for migrants in the coming decades? And what happens when families - and meaning - start to dissolve?