Azernews.Az

By Alimat Aliyeva

Researchers increasingly believe that the rapid spread of smartphones and social media is contributing to declining birth rates across many regions of the world, AzerNEWS reports.

After analyzing data on the large-scale adoption of mobile phones in different countries, experts found a noticeable correlation between smartphone usage and falling fertility rates.

According to the report, birth rates among teenagers and young adults in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia remained relatively stable in the early 2000s, but began to decline sharply after 2007. Similar trends later appeared in France and Poland around 2009, followed by Mexico, Morocco, and Indonesia around 2012. In Ghana, Nigeria, and Senegal, fertility rates dropped significantly between 2013 and 2015. Researchers note that these changes closely coincide with rising smartphone sales and increasing Google searches related to mobile apps.

Demographer Lyman Stone explained that modern technology may be changing the way people form relationships.

“To meet the person you may eventually marry, you usually need to interact with many people,” Stone said. “If social interaction decreases, it naturally becomes harder to find a long-term partner.”

He also argued that social media can reshape expectations about relationships and lifestyles.

“If most of your communication happens online, your standards and perceptions are influenced more by curated digital images than by real-life experiences,” he added.

The report suggests that social networks not only consume a large share of young people’s time, but also promote lifestyles and values that can make building stable long-term relationships more difficult.

Researchers also identified another “smartphone-era phenomenon” — a growing ideological divide between young men and women, particularly among those without higher education. In this group, women’s political views are increasingly shifting to the left, while men’s views remain comparatively unchanged, potentially reducing the likelihood of forming families and having children.

At the same time, experts emphasize that smartphones are only one factor behind declining fertility worldwide. Economic uncertainty, rising housing costs, delayed marriages, and the growing number of women pursuing higher education also play a major role, especially in developing countries.

Interestingly, some analysts compare the societal impact of smartphones to the arrival of television in the 20th century — but on a much larger scale, as smartphones influence not only entertainment habits, but also communication, dating, work, and even long-term demographic trends.