Dear Mr. Kinley,
Bhutan is facing a quiet but profound crisis: the collapse of our birth rate. Official figures show the total fertility rate has plummeted from more than six children per woman in the 1990s to roughly 1.4–1.8 today—well below the 2.1 replacement level needed to maintain a stable population. Births have fallen 62.9 percent in just 35 years, from 15,580 in 1990 to only 5,784 in 2025, with further declines recorded in 2024.
For a small Himalayan nation of fewer than 800,000 people, this trend threatens our long-term sustainability. A shrinking workforce will create acute labour shortages in hydropower, tourism, agriculture and public services. Economic growth will slow, tax revenues will shrink, and the old-age dependency ratio will rise sharply, placing unsustainable pressure on pensions, healthcare and social protection systems. Our cultural continuity and the very foundations of Gross National Happiness are also at risk as fewer young Bhutanese inherit and carry forward our unique traditions and values.
The government has rightly labelled this a national crisis and is drafting a population strategy. Yet words alone will not reverse the decline. We must act decisively with family-friendly policies—affordable childcare, generous parental leave, housing support and incentives for young couples—before the demographic window closes forever.
Yours sincerely,
Pema Choden
