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Global birth rates have dropped 16% in the last 20 years, with populations in much of Europe and East Asia now shrinking.

And Babatunde Osotimehin, Executive Director at the United Nations Population Fund, tells Andrew Walker that fertility in the world's poor countries, although comparatively high, is falling even faster.

Jane Falkingham, from the University of Southampton, explains that fewer babies and lower mortality rates are putting ever more pressure on a smaller workforce to support an ageing population.

(Photo: A newborn baby in a German maternity ward. Credit: Sean Gallup, Getty Images)