UNITED NATIONS POPULATION INFORMATION NETWORK (POPIN) UN Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, with support from the UN Population Fund (UNFPA)

European Population Conference

European Population Conference 
Geneva, 23-26 March, 1993.



Domestic Features: Ageing Populations and Low Fertility Rates



For the first time in history, the number of older people (over 60) in 

Europe and North America will exceed the number of young people (under the 

age of 15) in the next two decades, according to U.N. report delivered at 

the European Population Conference. The number of elderly people in the 

region - estimated at 90 million in 1950 - has doubled in the past 40 years, 

and is expected to almost double again in the next 30 years, reaching an 

estimated total of 310 million by 2025.



"This type of generational structure has never been even remotely 

encountered in the past", said the report released by the U. N . Economic 

Commission for Europe (ECE) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), 

at the European Conference. "Population ageing will affect social and 

economic systems, the quality of life and almost all other social 

arrangements until the middle of the next century, and almost inevitably, 

for many decades thereafter". Responding to concerns on the consequences of 

population ageing, the Conference recommended extending the working years of 

the labour force.



The Conference also addressed the issue of low fertility rates in the 

overall region, which continue to be well below the necessary levels for the 

replacement of generations. Experts at the Conference were especially 

concerned with Europe's ability to replenish the indigenous composition of 

its work force, and sought less dependence on immigration to adjust 

long-term demographic imbalances. Immigration could be relied upon to fill 

temporary gaps in the labour market, the Conference said, but it "may not be 

a full solution for the adjustement of the age structure in the long run".



Experts also addressed the issue of high rates of abortions in some 

countries of the region, reflecting high levels of unmet demand for family 

planning there. The Conference responded to these demands with calls to 

implement a coordinated strategy to assist these countries in the field of 

reproductive health and health system reforms.



Mass migrations pressing borders.



Some 60 million people have asked to migrate to the Western world, said 

experts in Geneva



"Western Europe and North America face increases of between one and two 

million entrants per year, mostly from the Third World", said David A. 

Coleman, a Lecturer in Demography from Oxford University. The disintegration 

of the former USSR and the difficult economic transitions faced by East 

European countries were identified as the principal causes behind recent 

migrations to Western Europe, but their numbers were said to be far less 

than anticipated and their movements, only temporary. Increased turbulence 

in Russia and other CIS countries, however, could send new floods of 

migrants in the region.



What some experts in Geneva perceived as a greater long-term challenge, is 

the "continued population growth, economic weakness and political 

instability," which continue to drive massive numbers of migrants to flee 

their countries of origin in search of economic and political refuge. "If 

Western countries wish to control or reverse this inflow, Coleman said, 

"they must manage the push factors, neutralize the effects of the pull 

factors or both". The only viable long-term solution therefore is: to reduce 

the gap in the economic disparities between developed and developing worlds.





Addressing the issue of migration not only served to underscore the 

important inter-linkages between population growth and economic development, 

but it may also have provided incentives to increase cooperation between 

developed and developing countries. "Governments of countries of origin and 

destination should seek to redress the causes of emigration in order to 

alleviate the massive and uncontrolled international migration flows," the 

Conference said, "This may require financial assistance, and reassessment of 

commercial and tariff relations, and stepped-up efforts by developing 

countries to create a more liberalized and market-oriented economic 

framework.



The European Population Conference, held in Geneva, 23-26 March, addressed 

the population and development concerns of European and North American 

countries, and concentrated on the following issues: I) International 

Migration; 2) Fertility and Family; 3) Health and Mortality; 4) Population 

Growth and Structure; 5) International Cooperation. Jointly organized by the 

U.N. Economic Commission for Europe (ECE), the Council of Europe and the 

United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the European Conference was the 

third out of a series of five regional conferences, held in preparation for 

the 1994 Conference.



The European Population Conference produced a concrete set of 

recommendations, which will represent the major contribution of Europe and 

North America at Cairo '94.