Kolkata, April 17, 2026: For decades, the global economy’s most reliable tailwind was demographic. More people meant more workers, more consumers, more taxpayers. That tailwind has turned. From Tokyo to Berlin to Shanghai, fertility rates are far below replacement level, migration is no longer bridging the gap, and working-age populations are shrinking in absolute terms. The next five years will be the first when population degrowth moves from UN charts to boardroom P&Ls.
