For most of human history, more people were born each year than died. Populations grew very slowly for most of this history, then rapidly in recent centuries, as child mortality plummeted and people lived longer, Our World in Data reports. 

But this is changing. As the map shows, deaths now outnumber births in a growing number of countries across Europe and East Asia.

The balance of births and deaths tells us about a country’s “natural population change” — whether it would grow or shrink without any international migration. Where deaths outnumber births, the population will shrink unless enough people move in from abroad to make up the gap.

Explore how the number of deaths and births is changing in your own country