A looming fertility crisis could possibly cut Thailand’s population in half over the next six decades, pushing the Ministry of Public Health to take urgent action to place pregnancy promotion on the national agenda.
Dr. Cholnan Srikaew, Public Health Minister, stated on Monday that the changing age demographicposes a threat to Thailand.


The fertility rate (TFR) for a Thai woman is 1.16 on average, which means that one woman has roughly 1.16 children over her lifetime, except in Yala province, where it is 2.27.


TFR declined for the first time in 1993, when it was measured at 2.1. It corresponds to a decrease in the number of births. From 1963 to 1983, the average annual birth rate was around one million, but in 2021, the total number of newborn newborns was only 485,085, which was also lower than the death rate of 550,042, he said.


Pensioners Outnumbering Youth
According to him, the primary causes are economic, social, educational, and environmental issues, with only 10% owing to health issues. If no favourable measures are implemented, this year will be the first in which workers aged 20-24 are outnumbered by pensioners aged 60-64.




The disparity between the two groups will only widen, resulting in workforce shortages, more reliance on the working group, and a larger expenditure to care for the elderly’s health.


“We have been working to promote the issue of pregnancy into the national agenda so that the government will do its job to invest in human resources development, including providing financial assistance to newborn babies and assistance for infertility problems,” the doctor stated.


The government of Thailand is straining to deal with an oncoming population problem, as the Southeast Asian country’s birth rate drops to a 60-year low of 544,000 births in 2021. The government believes that if its new initiative to encourage citizens to have more children is properly implemented, it may just work.


The government intends to reduce the ‘burden’ of having children in a number of ways. One strategy is to open additional fertility clinics. Most of them are currently only available in Bangkok and other big cities. This will be expanded to include all 76 provinces.


“Raising one child is expensive. “A semester for kindergarten is already US$1,520 to US$1,850 (50,000 to 60,000 baht), and it eventually reaches millions (baht),” said Chinthathip Nantavong, 44, who has been with her boyfriend for 14 years but has no children.

Thailand Struggles With Fertility Crisis As Population Declines