Population Challenges

    Although Switzerland is a balanced country in terms of demography and sustainability, it still facing its own problems. As you can see in the graph below, Switzerland is in the 4th phase (4th column) of the demographic transition chart meaning that it is currently in a balanced yet changing growth of population. Soon as time passes, Switzerland could go into the 5th phase in the future indicating that it might face a dramatic drop in population from a decreasing birth rate and an increasing death rate. It could currently even be approaching the 5th phase as they currently have a decreasing child population and an increasing elder population. This could further lead into problems with the economy and government, eventually leading to an unsuccessful country. (CIA 2010)

Demographic Transition Chart

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    Other problems also include the fact that there is a slightly small number of elders and much more children and adults as shown in the 2010 population pyramid. There is also a significantly larger amount of females in the elder groups while males generally have a higher population in the middle and lower sections. As well, the children's population is slightly low when compared to the rest. Though there are these small problems, the main one lies further ahead into the future. When comparing the 2010 and 2050 population pyramids, it is clear that there are drastic changes in the population as the latter has a much higher bigger challenge awaiting Switzerland. It is completely dominated in the elder grouping by women with very little men, while in the lower sections it is the opposite with less exaggeration. Also, the overall population is unbalanced, it being in a much weirder shape, with too many middle-aged people and very little male elders, but a highly increased amount of female elders. Although these changes appear, other statistics since the 20th century have shown that the population of Switzerland has had some unusual changes. The children population (under 20) has dropped from about 2/5 in 1900 to just over 1/5 now and the elder population has increased from 6% to 15% over the same duration. This shows that even though the pyramids predict otherwise, Switzerland could be facing an abnormal flip in its population. (Britannica)
    Although Switzerland has many problems with its demography, the real dilemma awaits in the future with the demographic transition model and population pyramids.

Switzerland Population Pyramids - 2010 and 2050

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