They find that a smaller global population will bring with it a number of benefits: fewer workers will command higher wages good jobs will prompt innovation the environment will improve the risk of famine will wane and falling birthrates in the developing world will bring greater affluence and autonomy for women. In Empty Planet, Ibbitson and Bricker travel from South Florida to Sao Paulo, Seoul to Nairobi, Brussels to Delhi to Beijing, drawing on a wealth of research and firsthand reporting to illustrate the dramatic consequences of this population decline – and to show us why the rest of the developing world will soon join in. In much of the developed and developing world, that decline is already underway, as urbanisation, women’s empowerment, and waning religiosity lead to smaller and smaller families. This time, however, we’re thinning ourselves deliberately, by choosing to have fewer babies than we need to replace ourselves. Throughout history, depopulation was the product of catastrophe: ice ages, plagues, the collapse of civilizations. Rather than growing exponentially, they argue, the global population is headed for a steep decline. But a growing number of experts are sounding a different kind of alarm. ‘A gripping narrative of a world on the cusp of profound change’ – Anjana Ahuja, New StatesmanĮmpty Planet offers a radical, provocative argument that the global population will soon begin to decline, dramatically reshaping the social, political and economic landscape.įor half a century, statisticians, pundits and politicians have warned that a burgeoning planetary population will soon overwhelm the earth’s resources. ‘Riveting and vitally important’ – Steven Pinker

Empty Planet by Darrell Bricker