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Men are outnumbered for the first time
Last reviewed: 02.07.2025
Sweden has had a regular population census for over 250 years, and according to the latest data, the male population has recently exceeded the female population. Scientists note that a similar situation is observed in other countries, in particular, Norway, Switzerland, etc.
In Western countries, women have always outnumbered men, but in 2015 the situation began to change – then in Sweden it was recorded that men outnumbered women by 277 people, and over the course of a year the gap increased to 12 thousand, and scientists are confident that the number of men will continue to increase.
In European regions, boys are born on average 5 more than girls, but due to the high life expectancy of women, the fair half of humanity outnumbers the male half. Experts can explain the current situation by two reasons: men will live longer and a mass influx of refugees, mainly young men from Africa and the Middle East. In Sweden alone, more than 30 thousand teenagers who became orphans received asylum last year and this year.
But, as mentioned, it is not only in Sweden that the trend towards an increase in the number of men is observed. For example, in Norway the situation changed even earlier than in Sweden. In Denmark and Switzerland the number of men and women is approximately the same today. In Germany, half a century ago there were 87 men for every 100 women, and today there are 96, and experts assume that in the future the number of men will only increase.
Now sociologists have a new task - to determine whether there are risks of such a change in the ratio between the male and female halves of humanity. But some researchers are already concerned that the increase in the male part of the population will lead to violence and sexual harassment, since many men will remain single.
According to a recent WHO report, the average life expectancy has increased in the world over the past 16 years. According to some data, people have begun to live 5 years longer, despite the fact that women still continue to outlive men by several years. But many experts suggest that men will eventually equalize with women, in particular, this can be facilitated by an increase in the number of men.
It is worth noting that the number of women has always exceeded the number of men - such conclusions were made by scientists after studying the DNA of various peoples. To establish the demographic history, specialists used a new method of extracting genetic information - sequencing and compared the Y chromosome and mitochondrial DNA.
As a result, they found that even before the migration of people from Africa, women outnumbered men and in some countries this trend continues.
A number of experts suggest that the reason for this ratio could be polygyny (when one man has relationships with several women).
Scientists also noted that there is a regional difference, for example, Africans have fewer genes in the male line, most likely due to the spread of the people to the south and east of Africa, which began about 3 thousand years ago. But among the Indians living in America, more female genes were found, which is possibly due to the large number of representatives of this people in the New World.
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