News brief
Vietnam abolishes its long-standing two-child limit. The country aims to reverse declining birth rates and ease the pressures of an aging population with legislation passed on June 3. The birth rate in 2021 was 2.11 children per woman, just over the replacement rate required for a population to avoid shrinking over the long term. Since then, the birth rate has steadily declined: to 2.01 in 2022, 1.96 in 2023, and 1.91 in 2024. Unlike other Asian countries with low fertility rates, such as Japan, South Korea, or Singapore, Vietnam is a developing economy. Vietnam set rules governing family size in 1988 to reduce pressure on limited resources after years of war.
Related Monitor coverage
US parents are having fewer children, later. In March 2024, we looked at what that means for society. This story was the first in a series about falling birthrates. The second showed how immigrants are powering a population boom in rural Iowa. The third looked at the tumbling global birthrate and hard societal choices ahead.
