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NATO Has a Birth Rate Problem
Newsweek ^ | February 1, 2026 | Micah McCartney

Posted on 02/01/2026 2:30:05 PM PST by MinorityRepublican

Births in Türkiye fell again in 2025, continuing a decline that has put NATO's youngest population on a course President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has called a "demographic disaster."

For decades, the country of 85 million and rising military power had the bloc’s highest total fertility rate (TFR). In 2016, it stood at 2.1 births per woman, the level needed to sustain a population naturally. By the end of last year, the Turkish Statistical Institute reported it had fallen to 1.48, driven by prolonged economic downturn, rising cost of living and changing social norms among young people.

It’s a familiar pattern for most upper- and middle-income countries, where roughly two-thirds of the population lives, with TFRs below the replacement rate, according to the International Monetary Fund. Many NATO member states are in an even more advanced stage of demographic transition, which will have wide-ranging effects on society in the coming decades—driving up pensions, health care and other public expenditures while squeezing defense budgets.

Newsweek reached out to NATO by email with a request for comment.

Difficult Balance Ageing societies compound the challenge, with people aged 65 and over comprising 21.6 percent of the European Union's population in 2024, according to Eurostat. Labor-saving technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics and automation are expected to pick up some of the slack as populations age and military forces shrink.

Yet there is a cap on the ability of democratic governments to invest in these technologies.

(Excerpt) Read more at newsweek.com ...


TOPICS: European Union
KEYWORDS: frhasatrollproblem; minorityrepublican; nato; natotruth

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1 posted on 02/01/2026 2:30:05 PM PST by MinorityRepublican
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To: MinorityRepublican

Erdogan was running his mouth a few years ago about how muslims were going to take over everything due to their higher birth rate. He bragged about Turks in particular having a birthrate higher than that of Europeans.

Ha Ha.


2 posted on 02/01/2026 2:34:16 PM PST by FLT-bird
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To: FLT-bird
Erdogan was running his mouth a few years ago about how muslims were going to take over everything due to their higher birth rate. He bragged about Turks in particular having a birthrate higher than that of Europeans.

Turkey, Iran, Gulf States are advanced.

Afghanistan, Yemen, Iraq, Somalia? Different story.

3 posted on 02/01/2026 2:41:11 PM PST by MinorityRepublican
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To: FLT-bird

Demographic jihad.


4 posted on 02/01/2026 2:45:58 PM PST by PGalt (Past Peak Civilization?)
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To: MinorityRepublican

Why do we need to keep breeding? We are not Hunter gatherers or dirt farmers that need to have 10 children because 8 of them would die from diseases we now cure with a simple pill. These stories are all written by government bean counters who demand more and more taxe payers support more and more bureaucrats who give more and more money to welfare turds.


5 posted on 02/01/2026 2:48:16 PM PST by Organic Panic ('Was I molested. I think so' - Ashley Biden in response to her father joining her in the shower)
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To: Organic Panic

We’ll have to get rid of Social Security. Then we’ll be fine with a low birth rate, zero immigration for a while.


6 posted on 02/01/2026 3:03:47 PM PST by MinorityRepublican
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To: MinorityRepublican

Don’t worry, there’s 23 Million new Nigerians in 2025.

Lotsa space for all of them in NATO world!


7 posted on 02/01/2026 3:11:46 PM PST by Regulator (It's fraud, Jim)
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To: FLT-bird

“Erdogan was running his mouth a few years ago about how muslims were going to take over everything due to their higher birth rate. He bragged about Turks in particular having a birthrate higher than that of Europeans.”

Read the roster of just about ANY public school in the UK or much of Europe. That’s the future.


8 posted on 02/01/2026 3:43:00 PM PST by BobL (Trusting one's doctor is the #1 health mistake one can make.)
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To: MinorityRepublican
Simple solution, ban contraceptives and abortion in almost all cases.

Contraceptive Use: A World Divided
A glance at the global contraceptive map presents a clear divide. The highest usage rates are concentrated in North America and Europe, while the lowest rates are predominantly in African nations. The top ten countries, where access and awareness are highest, report contraceptive prevalence above 79%. Conversely, in the bottom ten countries, usage hovers below 6% - https://medium.com/@tarangds/the-global-divide-in-contraceptive-use-what-the-data-tells-us-ec565df6b6c0
.

Key Observations:


9 posted on 02/01/2026 4:08:10 PM PST by daniel1212 (Turn 2 the Lord Jesus who saves damned+destitute sinners on His acct, believe, b baptized+follow HIM)
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To: daniel1212

The most fertile nations are populated by the lowest IQ humans on the planet.


10 posted on 02/01/2026 4:33:43 PM PST by drwoof
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To: MinorityRepublican

as a defense organization,
the very last thing NATO (or rather its member countries) should be doing is importing millions of mostly-hostiles from areas harboring mass-murdering terrorist gangsters

if the western citizenry has forgotten how to have babies, or simply prefers BMW’s instead, it would still be preferable to staff the defenses with 40 year olds instead of allowing mass invasions of 20 year old hostiles


11 posted on 02/01/2026 4:36:19 PM PST by faithhopecharity ("Politicians aren't born, they're excreted." Marcus Tullius Cicero (106 to 43 BCE))
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To: drwoof

Idiocracy, here we come.


12 posted on 02/01/2026 4:50:58 PM PST by onona
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To: MinorityRepublican

Feminism. LGBT. Green hatred of babies.


13 posted on 02/01/2026 4:51:03 PM PST by Socon-Econ (adi)
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To: MinorityRepublican

Meanwhile in Africa the birthdate remains high. My theory is the ultimate cause of the motherhood decline is Socialist Security. In Africa the governments are corrupt and worse than worthless. People there count on their own kids to help them though old age. In the ‘Civilized’ world Socialist Security offers the illusion of support during old age. So why have the burden of kids when you’re taxed to the extreme?


14 posted on 02/01/2026 10:24:47 PM PST by Nateman (Democrats did not strive for fraud friendly voting merely to continue honest elections.)
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