ABSTRACT
The UN population monitoring project forecasts that western Europe and north America will retain their current level of development for the coming thirty years. Low birth rates mean that their populations will barely reproduce themselves. The situation is unlikely to change because the proportion of women in fertile ages is diminishing as populations are ageing. Any increases of the total population will primarily be due to in-migration. The western world will depend upon a trickle of immigration to fill the gaps in workforces. It is unlikely that these will be countries of economic growth. The population of eastern Europe, excluding the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), is predicted to increase by 15 million in 2025. The population of the CIS will increase by 75 million for the same period. The main bulk of this increase will be in the central Asian and Caucasian republics. The CIS represents an intermediate stage in the process of demographic transition.
