The economies of both Japan and Germany went into recovery around the time their populations began to decline. In other words, both the total and per capita GDP in both countries grew more rapidly than before. Russia’s economy also began to grow rapidly, even though its population had been shrinking. Many Eastern European countries have been experiencing similar effects to Russia. Such renewed growth calls into question the conventional wisdom that economic growth requires population growth, or that economic growth is impossible during a population decline. A focus on productivity growth that leads to an increase in both per capita GDP and total GDP can bring other benefits to: the … Continue reading Population decline (Wikipedia)