UNFPA’s new State of World Population report shows that the real crisis we are facing is not a problem of demographic change: It is a crisis of reproductive agency.

In 2025, the global fertility rate is making headlines.

In many countries, birth rates are declining, leading policymakers to sound the alarm over “population collapse”. In an attempt to address the demographic changes they face, some governments are employing drastic measures to persuade women and young people to have more children.

Yet, new data shows that most people want to have children, and many want more children than they are able to have. In every country, regardless of total fertility rate, the most consequential reproductive decision a human being can make – when, whether and with whom to have a child – is being undermined.