Report by United Nations highlights global fertility crisis in 2025

The latest United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), June 2025, report reveals the full extent of the global fertility crises.

According to a survey conducted in 14 countries, both over-and under-achieved fecundity are common, driven by social pressures and economic insecurity.

The world is a place where people do not get their reproductive needs met

UNFPA and YouGov’s study, included in State of World Population 2025 Report highlights a clear mismatch between people’s reproductive desires, and their reality. Nearly 1 in 5 adults aged 18–50 said they don’t expect to have the number of children they actually want. Of those 50+ years old, 31% have fewer children then desired while only 13% have more.

All respondents reported that 32 percent of them or their partners had an unintended pregnancies. Meanwhile, 23 per cent reported a time when they wanted a child but couldn’t have one – with over 40 per cent of that group ultimately abandoning their hopes altogether.

The real cause of the fertility crisis is money and healthcare

UNFPA says that economic constraints are the biggest barrier to achieving fertility targets. 39 percent of respondents in all countries surveyed cited financial restrictions, and 21% cited unemployment or unreliable employment. Housing issues were cited by 19% of respondents. A 29-year old female anonymous from Mexico stated: “I’m trying to have children but it is becoming increasingly difficult.” Rent or buying a house is not possible in my city. I would also prefer not to have children in wartimes and in worsening planetary conditions if the child suffers as a result.

24 per cent of respondents cited health problems, such as infertility or poor general health. 19% cited fears about the future, including wars, pandemics, and climate change. 14 % cited lack of a spouse or unequal household burdens.

The blame for the fertility crisis is not on women

UNFPA notes that mainstream media has a narrative “deeply faulty” in which women are blamed for declining birthrates. They assume women freely choose to not have children.

UNFPA warns against such myths, which ignore real obstacles like coercion and discrimination. UN Sustainable Development Goals data shows that 25% of women are unable to make their own decisions regarding their healthcare, and 24% cannot refuse a sexual encounter.

The report tracks decades of failed population control efforts, showing how state interference in fertility has often backfired – sometimes with devastating consequences. China’s one child policy, in effect from 1980 until 2015, caused forced abortions as well as millions of undocumented ‘ghost children.

The abortion ban in Romania of 1966 also had devastating effects. The ban on abortions in 1966 had disastrous effects. It temporarily increased birth rates but also led to thousands dying from unsafe abortions. The report notes, ‘By the time the policy ended in 1989, Romania had the highest maternal mortality rate in Europe, some 87 per cent of which was attributable to unsafe abortion, as well as vast numbers of abandoned children (Hord and others, 1991).’

Italy’s “Fertility day” posters from 2016 include slogans such as “Beauty doesn’t age.” Fertility does” was widely mocked because it ignored real barriers such as housing costs and job insecurity. South Korea’s birth map, which displayed the distribution of women in childbearing years, sparked outrage. It was shut down quickly after allegations of humiliation.

UNFPA claims that coercion, propaganda and other forms of pressure on women to have children are harmful and do not work in the long term. Some women avoid getting pregnant in areas where the maternal healthcare is declining due to restrictions on abortion. According to a young Filipino woman, “many policies around the world are against women’s healthcare.” “I feel this forces us to remain single and have no kids”

Roman, a 26-year-old male from Azerbaijan said: “Before I bring a child into this world, I have to fight for the right to do so on my own terms – for same-sex marriage, for surrogacy, for adoption rights and parental recognition – where I am from. It’s not just me fighting. It is the fight of millions of young people who are trapped in systems that deny their dignity and rights.

Better reproductive support is needed

UNFPA urges government to stop manipulating the fertility rate and empower people to make informed and voluntary choices. It includes:

• Health care and contraception: Quality access to healthcare
• Support for housing and economic development
• Gender equality and shared parental responsibility
• Trustworthy, non-coercive reproductive policies

Natalia Kanem, Executive Director of the Natalia Kanem Foundation, writes: “Millions of people are still unable to exercise their reproductive choices and rights.” This inability of individuals to realize their desired fertility goals is the real fertility crisis – not overpopulation or underpopulation – and we see it everywhere we look.”

UNFPA believes that the only demographic policy that is sustainable is one which puts people’s needs first. As the report notes, ‘Policies should respond directly to what people want and need – not as an afterthought, but as the first and most important inquiry.’

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