Meanwhile, population growth has slowed or stopped in Europe, North American and Japan. 14 Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States are among the developed countries with the highest rates of population growth, hovering around the 1 per cent mark, likely due to immigration. Countries with rates of population growth near zero or declining include Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Portugal, the Russian Federation and Spain. In a number of Eastern European countries, population growth is negative. This is due to poorer health and rising death rates, as well as outward migration.
Fertility is lowest in Germany, Greece, Italy and Spain.
Rates vary among African countries Africa's population of 784 million people is projected to nearly double by 2040. The recent population growth rate on average for the continent has been 2.4 per cent. However, rates of growth fluctuate from 2.0 and 1.6 per cent in Northern and Southern Africa to 2.5 and 2.7 per cent in Western and Middle Africa. Fertility is highest in Niger, Malawi, Uganda and Angola, where women have, on average, about 7 children. High rates of population growth are also to be found in the Comoros, the Gambia, Guinea, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Mozambique and Western Sahara.