{"slug": "world-fertility-collapse-threatens-growth-and-vc-theses", "title": "World Fertility Collapse Threatens Growth And VC Theses", "summary": "A new paper by researchers at the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation finds that global fertility rates have fallen below replacement level, with the average number of births per woman dropping from 5.1 in 1960 to 2.2 in 2021. The decline is reshaping growth forecasts and venture capital investment theses, particularly in robotics, automation, and AgeTech, as companies and investors anticipate labor shortages and an aging population.", "body_md": "# World Fertility Collapse Threatens Growth And VC Theses\n\nBy Josipa Majic Predin, ContributorSource:\n\n[Forbes Innovation](https://www.forbes.com/innovation/)A new paper finds humanity has fallen below replacement fertility, reshaping growth forecasts and VC bets on\n\n[robotics](/category/robotics), automation and AgeTech.Get AI news in your inbox\n\nDaily digest of what matters in AI.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/world-fertility-collapse-threatens-growth-and-vc-theses", "canonical_source": "https://www.machinebrief.com/news/world-fertility-collapse-threatens-growth-and-vc-theses-xbzk", "published_at": "2026-08-19 21:22:43+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-08-19 22:14:56.780990+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["robotics", "ai-products"], "entities": ["University of Washington", "Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation", "Forbes"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/world-fertility-collapse-threatens-growth-and-vc-theses", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/world-fertility-collapse-threatens-growth-and-vc-theses.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/world-fertility-collapse-threatens-growth-and-vc-theses.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/world-fertility-collapse-threatens-growth-and-vc-theses.jsonld"}}