1. Free teaching material for a fact-based worldviewQ1
ANSWER 3
— How Did Babies per Woman Change in Different Regions?
Short answer — It dropped everywhere
Version: 1
Free teaching material for a fact-based worldview

2. Free teaching material for a fact-based worldview
Babies per woman
The number of babies born per woman has dropped across the world. Back in the year 1800, it was about 6 babies per woman in all regions. 6 5 4 3 2
1800
1900
2000
Sources: After 1950: UN World Pop. Prosp Before 1950: hundreds of sources combined by Gapminder.
Version: 1
Free teaching material for a fact-based worldview

3. Babies per woman 6 5 4
Then Europe changed like this 3 2
1800
1900
2000
Sources: After 1950: UN World Pop. Prosp Before 1950: hundreds of sources combined by Gapminder.
Version: 1
Free teaching material for a fact-based worldview

4. Free teaching material for a fact-based worldview
Babies per woman
America followed, had a baby boom after the Second World War and then dropped like this 6 5 4 3 2
1800
1900
2000
Sources: After 1950: UN World Pop. Prosp Before 1950: hundreds of sources combined by Gapminder.
Version: 1
Free teaching material for a fact-based worldview

5. Free teaching material for a fact-based worldview
Babies per woman
In Asia that drop came late, but was very fast 6 5 4 3 2
1800
1900
2000
Sources: After 1950: UN World Pop. Prosp Before 1950: hundreds of sources combined by Gapminder.
Version: 1
Free teaching material for a fact-based worldview

6. Free teaching material for a fact-based worldview
Babies per woman
In Africa, the number of babies per woman has continued quite high 6 5 4 3 2
1800
1900
2000
Sources: After 1950: UN World Pop. Prosp Before 1950: hundreds of sources combined by Gapminder.
Version: 1
Free teaching material for a fact-based worldview

7. Free teaching material for a fact-based worldview
Babies per woman
But during the last 30 years the number of babies per woman is decreasing steadily in Africa 6 5 4 3 2
1800
1900
2000
Sources: After 1950: UN World Pop. Prosp Before 1950: hundreds of sources combined by Gapminder.
Version: 1
Free teaching material for a fact-based worldview

8. Free teaching material for a fact-based worldview
Babies per woman 6 5
Now this is today 4 3 2
2100
1800
1900
2000
Sources: After 1950: UN World Pop. Prosp Before 1950: hundreds of sources combined by Gapminder.
Version: 1
Free teaching material for a fact-based worldview

9. Free teaching material for a fact-based worldview
Babies per woman
When trends continue, we will reach down to 2 babies per woman during this century 6 5 4 3 2
2100
1800
1900
2000
Sources: After 1950: UN World Pop. Prosp Before 1950: hundreds of sources combined by Gapminder.
Version: 1
Free teaching material for a fact-based worldview

10. Free teaching material for a fact-based worldview
RELATED QUESTIONS
Throughout history, women on average have given birth to more than 5 babies. But in the 1960’s the number suddenly started dropping. Today it's down to less than three. Most likely it will continue to drop down to two or even below.
Short answer — It dropped
How did babies per woman change in the world?
Short answer — more adults
Why is population growing even if babies per woman dropped?
The future fast growth is not due to the same reasons as the fast growth historically. In the future, people will indeed survive longer, but life expectancy is only going to increase a little bit. And the number of children in the world is expected to remain stable. The main reason for the future fast growth is the highly predictable fill-up of adults, as larger young generations grow older as explained in another slideshow.
Short answer — first slowly. Then fast.
How did the world population change?
In this short video Professor Hans Rosling shows how the size of the world population has changed over time. From the beginning of agriculture to the industrial revolution the population growth was very slow. Then the population started to grow rapidly because fewer died young. Today, most women have fewer children and therefore the rapid growth will soon be slowing down. World population will most likely stabilise around 11 billion towards the end of the century.
Version: 1
Free teaching material for a fact-based worldview

11. LICENSE
This file is freely available under Creative Common Attribution License 4.0
Which means: Please use it and spread it in any way you want!
You are allowed to
Remix - You are allowed to change the material and include fragments of it in other works.
Spread - You are allowed to make copies, distribute, publish and transmit the material.
Sell - You are allowed to include the material in commercial products or services that you charge for.
The only requirements are:
Trademark - Don't include the word "GAPMINDER" and the logotypes in your products or service, and if you change the meaning of the slides, you must remove the Gapminder trademarks.
Attribution - You must make clear to others the license terms of this work and include the citation below.
Required attribution: ”Free teaching material from
The Gapminder Foundation is a Swedish not-for-profit organization, independent from all political, commercial and religious affiliations. Gapminder’s mission is to fight devastating ignorance with a fact-based worldview that everyone can understand. Gapminder’s chairman Hans Rosling is a professor of International Health at the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden. For more information visit:
Version: 1
Free teaching material for a fact-based worldview