Irish Examiner View: Hard to argue with the figures

Retirement age

Life expectancy at 65 is expected to rise from 85 now to 89 by 2050. Photo: File photo

They say that the world is getting smaller, by which it is meant that modern communications have made of it a sort of village — but the world may be getting smaller in other ways, too. 

Earth will be home to 8.8bn people in 2100 — 2bn fewer than current UN projections, according to a new study that foresees declining fertility rates and ageing populations.