Met Gala 2022: Gilded Glamour theme details, attendees, how to ...

Invitations have been sent, the custom gowns and outfits are selected and the stars are ready to dazzle photographers on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art at this year's Met Gala.

The gala is an annual fundraiser for the Met’s Costume Institute and calls on designers to adorn stars, models and sometimes influencers in the fashions of a selected theme to match a wing of the museum's exhibit. This year's exhibit is a continuation of last year's theme of American fashion and will include "cinematic vignettes" created by top Hollywood directors congruent with the "In America: An Anthology of Fashion” theme.

While each year the event, largely considered the Oscars of fashion, has selected co-hosts and honorary hosts, Vogue's editor-in-chief Anna Wintour has been at the helm of the Met ball since 1995 curating a tight-knit invite list, seating arrangement and dress code — which is gilded glamour.

Met's best:Our favorite Met Gala looks of all time, from Rihanna to Princess Diana

Last year's Met Gala, though pared down, occurred in September after being delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Stars including Frank Ocean, Kim Kardashian, then-co-chair Billie Eilish and many more showed up with their take on "In America: A Lexicon of Fashion."

Back on schedule on the first Monday in May, the 2022 Met Gala is expected to be a larger event as high-profile celebrities circle around to show off their best Gilded Age looks (thank you, HBO, for the style inspiration).

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Ahead of the grand event, here's all to know about fashion's biggest night.

When is the 2022 Met Gala?

The Met Gala will take place Monday, May 2, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It's the first time the museum has seen the in-person fundraising event at its scheduled time since May 6, 2019. In 2020 the exhibit went virtual, and in 2021 it took place in September.

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How can I watch the Met Gala?

Vogue, owned by one of the Met Gala sponsors Condé Nast, will be live streaming the event on its website starting at 6 p.m. ET. LaLa Anthony, Vanessa Hudgens and fashion journalist Hamish Bowles will sit as co-hosts as they interview the stars and designers upon their arrival.

E! News will also host two live streams with their TikTok stream that will capture celebrities as they leave from The Mark Hotel, a popular launching point for the invitees. The entertainment outlet will also host red carpet coverage on "Live from E!" beginning at 6 p.m. ET.

What is the Met Gala 2022 theme?

For the gala itself, attendees will be asked to dress in white tie and "gilded glamour," referring to late 1800s America that was led by industrialization and innovation. While we don't have any sneak peeks of the outfits to come we can expect gold embellishments, excessive ruffles, velvet, tulle, undergarment bustiers and corsets.

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The Met Gala's official theme "In America: An Anthology of Fashion" is slightly different from last year's "Lexicon of Fashion" theme anddisplay.

September's "lexicon" portion of the museum featured "approximately 100 men’s and women’s ensembles by a diverse range of designers from the 1940s to the present" while according to the museum's website, the May opening will feature garments dating back to the 18th century with "vignettes installed in select period rooms."

Who are the Met Gala co-chairs?

Director and actress Regina King, Hollywood's favorite couple Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds and director and playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda will serve as co-chairs of the 2022 Met Gala.

The actors and moviemakers are taking a turn in the Met Gala spotlight as the theme will have a focus on film. Star museum curator Andrew Bolton said eight directors will create what he calls “cinematic vignettes” in the period rooms of the American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

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King, Sofia Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Chloé Zhao, Tom Ford, Janicza Bravo, Julie Dash and Autumn de Wilde will be key parts of launching the exhibit.

Ford, head of Instagram Adam Mosseri and Wintour will continue their Met Gala roles as honorary co-chairs.

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Who can we expect to attend Met Gala?

Well, the invite list is typically kept top secret. The gala's co-chairs King, Lively, Reynolds, Miranda and the live stream co-hosts are almost certain to be present.

Other stars have been mum's the word about their presence. When asked about the event in an interview with The Cut, influencer and entrepreneur Lori Harvey replied: "Oooo, am I? We shall see, we shall see."

Zendaya, who was named CFDA's 2021 fashion icon and who has taken the Met ball carpet by storm in years past, has confirmed to Extra TV that for the second year in a row she will not be at the gala.

"Sorry to disappoint my fans here, but I will be working," she said. "I'll be back eventually."

Met Gala 2023: Date, co-chairs and dress code announced for event

New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art is ready to get the full glam treatment in just a few months.

The Met Gala, the annual benefit for the museum’s Costume Institute that gathers fashion and pop culture's most famous and powerful people, will take place May 1 — following its usual calendar placement on the first Monday in May. The theme, which corresponds with the changing fashion exhibit, will honor late designer Karl Lagerfeld.

Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour announced the 2023 theme during Paris Fashion Week in September. Vogue announced the date, the famous names who will co-chair the annual fundraiser alongside Wintour and the official dress code on Instagram Wednesday.

"Paying tribute to Mr. Lagerfeld is not solely a task for the museum’s curators: the 2023 dress code is ‘In honor of Karl,’" the publication wrote.

Here's everything to know about the Oscars of fashion.

When is the Met Gala?

The 2023 Met Gala will take place May 1.

Last year's Met Gala, themed "In America: An Anthology of Fashion," marked a return to the event's annual schedule for the first Monday in May after the pandemic caused the 2020 gala to be canceled and the 2021 gala to be postponed to September.

What is the 2023 Met Gala theme?

Stars, influencers and fashion figures attending the Met Gala this year will be honoring late designer Karl Lagerfeld.

The German-born couturier worked for decades simultaneously as creative director of many fashion houses including Chanel, Fendi and Chloé in addition to helming his eponymous international fashion label. He died in 2019 at 85.

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The Met's costume institute exhibit will transform to reflect "Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty" and will see some 150 of his creations assembled together to see his "stylistic language," a Met press release says. Lagerfeld’s original sketches will also be on display.

More:Met Gala 2023 theme, exhibit will celebrate work of late designer Karl Lagerfeld

Who will co-chair the Met Gala with Anna Wintour?

The exclusive invite list for the Met Gala is mostly under lock and key until the stars arrive on the red carpet for cameras to see. However, a handful of stars are announced as co-chairs ahead of time.

This year Michaela Coel, Dua Lipa, Penelope Cruz and Roger Federer will host the extravagant event alongside Wintour.

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Met Gala 2017: Everything you need to know about fashion's biggest ...

Maeve McDermott

USATODAY

The Met Gala is more than just the fashion world's version of the Academy Awards. The annual fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute brings together the biggest names in entertainment, fashion and politics for one night of revelry.

Take the world's biggest celebrities, dress them in couture and stick them in a room together, and sparks are bound to fly. President Trump proposed to Melania during the event in 2004, and Taylor Swift and Tom Hiddleston's romance was borne of their Met Gala dance-off in 2016. Historically, guests are also supposed to dress in the fashions of the event's honored designer, a tradition that often turns controversial.

Before the stars descend on the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC on Monday night, learn more about the annual event.

What is the Met Gala?

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute Benefit informally called the Met Gala or the Met Ball, is a black-tie fundraiser for the museum's Costume Institute. The event also celebrates the opening of the Costume Institute's annual fashion exhibit.

The Costume Institute is housed in the museum's Anna Wintour Costume Center, named after the Vogue editor-in-chief. Wintour has served as the Met Gala co-chair nearly every year since 1995.

This year's theme

Opening this month, the Costume Institute's new exhibit honors the work of Comme des Garçons designer Rei Kawakubo. The Costume Institute's choice of honoree often sets the tone for the Met Gala, with attendees expected to match the exhibit's theme with their own fashion choices for the evening.

This year, party-goers are encouraged to honor the bold, architectural designs of Kawakubo, who is the first living designer to be honored by the Costume Institute since Yves Saint Laurent in 1983.

The exhibition, which runs from May 4 to September 4, will feature 100+ of Kawakubo’s Comme des Garçons womenswear designs, dating back to her first Paris runway show in 1981.

The celebrity hosts

Every year since Anna Wintour's first year as Met Gala chair in 1995, the event has also featured honorary hosts from the worlds of entertainment and fashion.

Along with Wintour, this year's co-chairs are Katy Perry, Pharrell Williams, Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen, with Kawakubo also serving as honorary chair.

Ahead of the gala, Perry also appeared on the May cover of Vogue, honoring Kawakubo in a dedicated Comme des Garçons spread.

The star-studded guest list

Only Hollywood's biggest award shows boast guest lists that rival that of the invitation-only Met Gala. Wintour has final say over every attendee, and celebrities from A-list entertainers to political heavyweights mingle together at the event.

While 2016's Manus x Machina gala hosted stars including Beyoncé and Jay Z, Taylor Swift, Kanye West and the entire Kardashian clan, a spokesperson for the museum told The New York Times that the guest list for this year's event is expected to be slightly smaller.

Who is Rei Kawakubo?

Kawakubo, a 74-year-old Japanese designer who founded Comme des Garçons in 1969, is only the second living designer honored by the Costume Institute, along with Saint Laurent.

“Rei Kawakubo is one of the most important and influential designers of the past 40 years,” said Costume Institute curator in charge Andrew Bolton in a press release. “By inviting us to rethink fashion as a site of constant creation, recreation, and hybridity, she has defined the aesthetics of our time.”

Met Gala 2019: Everything you need to know about fashion's big night

It's not informally known as fashion's Academy Awards for nothing.

The Met Gala, the annual fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute, may be the single biggest night of the year for fashion, bringing together the top names in entertainment, politics and other high-powered industries for one night of peacocking and partying.

This year's Met Gala unfolds on May 6 in New York, corresponding with the opening of the museum's new fashion exhibit.

Read on for more information about this year's theme and what to expect.

What is the Met Gala?

Celebrating its 71st anniversary in 2019, the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute Benefit, better known as the Met Gala or the Met Ball, is a black-tie fundraiser for the museum's Costume Institute. Last year's gala raised over $12 million for the Met. The event also celebrates the opening of the Costume Institute's annual fashion exhibit.

The Costume Institute is housed in the museum's Anna Wintour Costume Center, named after the Vogue editor-in-chief. Wintour has served as the Met Gala co-chair nearly every year since 1995, and famously hand-picks the guest list.

How to watch

For viewers at home who want to tune in, E! will begin broadcasting live from the red carpet with Giuliana Rancic at 5 EDT on TV and on Hulu and YouTube TV.

Viewers without a cable connection can also stream the red carpet via Vogue's Facebook page.

What is this year's theme?

2018's blockbuster "Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and Catholic Imagination" theme will be hard to top, but the stars will try their best to interpret 2019's theme, "Camp: Notes on Fashion," which has nothing to do with camping equipment.

"Through more than 250 objects dating from the seventeenth century to the present, The Costume Institute's spring 2019 exhibition will explore the origins of camp's exuberant aesthetic," reads the Met's official website. "Susan Sontag's 1964 essay 'Notes on "Camp" ' provides the framework for the exhibition, which examines how the elements of irony, humor, parody, pastiche, artifice, theatricality, and exaggeration are expressed in fashion."

Sontag, one of the 20th century's most respected authors and critics, defined camp as "a seriousness that fails," the "taste for the androgynous," and "the love of the unnatural."

"It is interesting when you say to people, 'The exhibition this year is going to be on camp,' and you see their minds going, and they're thinking hiking boots, backpacks, rope," Wintour told Jenna Bush Hager on Friday's "Today" show. "It's nothing about nature. It's everything that's completely artificial and fake and not really what you think it means."

Expect the stars who decide to adhere to this year's theme to embrace Sontag's theory of camp and embody its outrageous and exaggerated spirit, which will inevitably result in some truly eye-popping sartorial choices.

During Friday's interview, Wintour teased the unusual nature of the requests she's received ahead of this year's gala.

"I know we've had some very strange requests, people arriving on unusual methods of transport," she said, adding that she "of course" says yes to the bizarre asks of the celebrity attendees. "We want them to take risks, to be fearless, to have fun with fashion, and we all need to laugh at ourselves a little bit, too."

The celebrity hosts

Since 1995, Anna Wintour has presided over the event alongside honorary hosts from the worlds of entertainment and fashion.

The eclectic co-chairs of this year's Met Gala are Lady Gaga, Harry Styles and Serena Williams.

In 2018, Wintour was joined by Amal Clooney, Rihanna and Donatella Versace as co-hosts.

Considering how Rihanna stole the red carpet show last year with her papal garb, expect this year's slate of celebrity hosts to also appear on many best-dressed lists the morning after.

Last year's gala

While style watchers will likely find plenty to love in the campy looks of this year's Met Gala, the 2018 version was a fashion wonderland, from Lena Waithe's instantly iconic LGBTQ flag cape to the many angels, popes and renaissance artworks that walked the carpet.

Other attendees included the Kardashian, Jenner and Hadid clans.

Last year's Met Gala:Best-dressed looks from Rihanna, Amal Clooney, Lena Waithe and more

Met Gala 2018: Everything you need to know about fashion's big party

Maeve McDermott

USA TODAY

It's the event where President Trump proposed to Melania, and Taylor Swift danced her way into a romance with Tom Hiddleston. The night that provoked Jay-Z, Beyonce and Solange's infamous elevator fight, a party with enough starpower to inspire Sandra Bullock's fictional heist in this summer's forthcoming movie Ocean's 8.

The occasion, of course, is the Met Gala, the annual fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute which corresponds with the opening of a new fashion-centered exhibit.

Traditionally held on the first Monday in May, the evening brings together the biggest names in entertainment, fashion and politics for one night of revelry in New York, which this year unfolds on May 7.

Historically, guests are supposed to dress to match the year's exhibit, often courting controversy when they deviate from the theme. This year's theme, "Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination," seems ripe for eyebrow-raising choices from its celebrity attendees.

Before the stars descend on the Met's steps, learn more about the annual event.

What is the Met Gala?

Celebrating its 70th anniversary this year, the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute Benefit informally called the Met Gala or the Met Ball, is a black-tie fundraiser for the museum's Costume Institute, with last year's gala raising over $12 million for the Met. The event also celebrates the opening of the Costume Institute's annual fashion exhibit.

The Costume Institute is housed in the museum's Anna Wintour Costume Center, named after the Vogue editor-in-chief. Wintour has served as the Met Gala co-chair nearly every year since 1995.

This year's theme

The Costume Institute's spring 2018 exhibition, from which the Met Gala gets its sartorial theme, will be "Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination," exploring the intersections of fashion with the practices and traditions of Catholicism. The exhibit, which will feature papal robes and accessories from the Vatican alongside designs from names including Coco Chanel and John Galliano, will be the largest in the Costume Institute's history, spanning three of the museum's spaces: the medieval galleries, the Anna Wintour Costume Center and the Met Cloisters uptown.

As far as celebrity fashions go, the suggested dress code for the event is "Sunday best," a wink at the event's holy theme.

The celebrity hosts

Every year since Wintour took the reins in 1995, the event has also featured honorary hosts from the worlds of entertainment and fashion.

Along with Wintour, this year's co-chairs are Amal Clooney, Rihanna and Donatella Versace, with Clooney making an appearance on the May cover of Vogue ahead of the gala.

The star-studded guest list

Only Hollywood's biggest award shows boast guest lists that rival that of the invitation-only Met Gala. Wintour has final say over every attendee, and celebrities from A-list entertainers to political heavyweights mingle together at the event.

Two famous names who skipped last year's Met Gala, Beyoncé and Kanye West, may reappear on the carpet Monday night. The stars who attended the 2017 gala included Selena Gomez, Kendall and Kylie Jenner, Priyanka Chopra, Katy Perry, Chrissy Teigen and John Legend, Madonna and hundreds more, with an estimated 550 people on last year's guest list.

The Ocean's 8 connection

Ocean's 8 is an all-female re-imagining of the Ocean's 11 franchise starring Sandra Bullock, Rihanna and Cate Blanchett, who concoct a plot to infiltrate the Met Gala and steal a diamond necklace from Anne Hathaway's actress character. With Rihanna co-chairing the event, expect to see at least some of the cast unite on the Met Gala carpet.

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Met Gala: Lady Gaga, Cardi B and more impeccably interpret camp ...

Who are the kings and queens of camp?

The theme of Monday's Met Gala celebrated "Camp: Notes on Fashion."

Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour explained the theme's meaning to Jenna Bush Hager on "Today" last week.

"It's everything that's completely artificial and fake and not really what you think it means," said Wintour.

We applaud these stars for not being afraid to fully embrace the theme.

Lady Gaga

March 28, 1986, a Met Gala star was born. Gaga, a co-chair of this year's event wore several looks by Brandon Maxwell. She enlisted the help of several people to help carry her long, hot-pink train. Beneath her overcoat, Gaga hid several more ensembles. She removed her outer layer to reveal a strapless black dress with a fitted, asymmetric bodice. Beneath the black dress, a sleek, pink column gown. Underneath that frock, a black bra and underwear set with fishnet stockings.

More:Lady Gaga strips down to her bra and underwear on the Met Gala carpet

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Cardi B

Another singer also knew how to grab eyes on the carpet. Cardi B wowed in a design by Thom Browne that was the antithesis of minimalism – perfect for the night's theme. The crimson look featured a jeweled cap, feathered shoulders and massive circular train.

Billy Porter

Porter spread his gilded wings on the carpet after being carried in by half a dozen men in gold pants, with their chests exposed. The actor/singer has The Blonds to thank for his Egyptian-inspired outfit and Giuseppe Zanotti to thank for his shoes.

Ahead of his arrival, the "Pose" actor told Vogue of camp: "When it’s done properly, it’s one of the highest forms of fashion and art.”

Ryan Murphy

The "American Horror Story" co-creator showed up ready to suffer in the name of fashion. Murphy's blush and peach Christian Siriano ensemble was a tribute to Liberace. Unfortunately, as Murphy tells it, the look was "literal hell."

"I had to lay down in the car, it weighs a hundred pounds, and I'm harnessed in," he told E! on the carpet. "But ya know, anything for fashion, right?"

More:Anna Wintour reveals Karl Lagerfeld made her Met Gala gown before his death

Celine Dion

Our love for Dion's Met Gala look will (sings) "go oooonnnnn." Being instantly turned into a meme pretty much cements one's place on the best-dressed list at the gala. Dion went for it in an Oscar de la Renta ensemble with glitzy fringe.

More:Celine Dion hits Met Gala carpet in feathered ensemble - and instantly gets memed

Janelle Monae

Hats off to Monae for her whimsical Met Gala look. The singer/actress sported an artsy look by Christian Siriano with pops of pink and red.

Kacey Musgraves

The event might've been a "Barbie World" for the "Rainbow" singer. Musgraves arrived at her first Met by Barbie pink car. She donned a long, blond wig with wavy locks and a vibrant coat dress by Moschino.

Lupita Nyong'o

The actress made a red carpet statement in a technicolor Versace number featuring bright fuchsia and lime green. Her hair was adorned with a handful of gilded picks.

Cara Delevingne

The model earned her stripes when it comes to nailing a theme. Delevingne's headpiece constructed of fake bananas, eyeballs and teeth complemented her rainbow-striped outfit from Dior Haute Couture.

Elle Fanning

Fanning brought the funk to the fundraising event in a youthful ensemble. Her look screamed over-the-top from head to toe. Even the silhouette of her Miu Miu ensemble was exaggerated, with its bell sleeves and wide-leg trousers. She accessorized with chunky necklaces and charms on her long nails.

Contributing: Maeve McDermott

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'Late Late Show': Anna Wintour won't invite Trump back to Met Gala

Erin Jensen

USA TODAY

President Trump shouldn't be checking the mail for an invite to next year's Met Gala according to Anna Wintour.

The Met Gala co-chair and Vogue editor-in-chief did some spilling of the tea during James Corden's stomach-churning game, "Spill Your Guts or Fill Your Guts," on The Late Late Show Wednesday.

The rules of the game are pretty simple, either answer a tough question or eat something unappetizing.

When the late night talk show host asked his guest who would never be invited back to the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute Benefit she replied simply, "Donald Trump" and avoided eating pickled pig's feet.

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Wintour also revealed that despite what Corden had heard, she hadn't dated Bob Marley and says she never even met him. She did opt to take a nibble on bacon-wrapped pizza when asked to rank designers Tom Ford, Marc Jacobs and Ralph Lauren from best to worst.

To see that moment and Corden down a whole June bug, watch the clip above.

Katy Perry's Met Gala outfit would've accentuated baby bump

Katy Perry is mourning what could've been: her Met Gala 2020 outfit.

The "Witness" artist shared a photo to Instagram Monday (the day the Met Gala would've taken place) of what she was supposed to wear to fashion's biggest night before it was canceled due to the coronavirus.

"What would have been... #TheMetBall2020💔," a pregnant Perry captioned the post.

Perry's attire would've consisted of what looks like a Jean-Paul Gaultier classic: a rose-gold cone bra wrap-around with a circular piece that fit over her baby bump.

The 35-year-old pop star's Met Gala outfit is reminiscent of Madonna's iconic cone bra from 1990, which was designed by Gaultier.

Perry, who first announced her pregnancy in March, revealed last month she was expecting a girl with Orlando Bloom.

"It's a girl," Perry captioned an Instagram post alongside a photo of her fiance's face covered in light-pink icing. The "American Idol" judge also tagged the location of her photo as "Girls Run the World."

Katy Perry: Singer talks keeping pregnancy news under wraps how her mom figured it out

Though the first Monday in May is usually reserved for the Met Gala, amid the coronavirus pandemic, the event was reimagined as a YouTube special called "A Moment With the Met."

Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, who first assumed the role of Met Gala co-chair in 1995, was joined in the video special by singer Florence Welch, rapper Cardi B and Virgil Abloh, founder of the label Off-White and Louis Vuitton's Men's artistic director.

Virtual Met Gala: Anna Wintour teams up with Cardi B, Virgil Abloh and Florence Welch for YouTube substitute

"This is a time of grief and of hardship for millions, and the postponement of a party is nothing in comparison," said Wintour, who spoke from her home instead of her usual perch greeting Met Gala guests. "And yet, one thing that we have learned through this difficult time is that we need each other, that community is essential to who we are. If we are to come out of this pandemic stronger and more resilient, we must emerge from it connected as never before."

Contributing: Erin Jensen, USA TODAY

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Met Gala 2022: Reporter inside look at theme, red carpet, after party

NEW YORK — For the first time since 2019, the Met Gala returned to its traditional home on the first Monday in May. Celebrity attendees brought true glamour — and it was a gilded affair if ever there was one.

After a pandemic cancellation in 2020 and a postponement to September last year, the full scope of the red carpet returned as a seemingly endless stream of stars, from Kim Kardashian and Pete Davidson to Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds, posed for the cameras before trekking up the famed steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

In line with the theme "In America: An Anthology of Fashion," the invite-only event's white-tie dress code was "gilded glamour," a reference to the Gilded Age in the late 1800s. And while attendees based their fashionable interpretations on the era's gold and wealth, another definition of "gilded" — one that focuses on false brilliance and a fanciful exterior hiding a lackluster reality — also informed the night.

After a weekend of sunshine, the gala was set against dreary and rainy weather, but that didn't stop the stars from stepping out in their finest on a Monday evening for fashion's biggest night. And from our vantage point on the Met steps, the fashion elite evoked feelings of grandeur that momentarily stopped time.

Under a large, tented red carpet, the star-studded event was briefly shielded from the realities of American life, as news of a leaked draft of an opinion from the U.S. Supreme Court on the verge of overturning Roe v. Wade coincided with the snaps of camera lenses and the cheers of fans lined up outside the entrance on Fifth Avenue.

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The annual benefit, the backdrop for the latest fashionable and historical display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute, is always a glitzy spectacle, this year leaning more into the old American glamour.

From the celebrities to the moments you didn't see, USA TODAY got a glimpse of the gilded. Here's an inside look at what went down on the carpet (and at the afterparties).

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What really happens on the Met Gala red carpet

On the jam-packed carpet, which went on for more than three hours, members of the press lined both sides of the grand steps leading up to the museum's entrance, which led to a lavish dinner party for invited guests. The limited list, one of the hottest tickets in town, is approved by Vogue editor-in-chief and honorary Met Gala co-chair Anna Wintour, and tickets for a table can cost upwards of $200,000.

The first stars to make their way up the carpet Monday were Vanessa Hudgens and LaLa Anthony, who (along with Vogue global editor at large Hamish Bowles) co-hosted Vogue's livestream. Wintour wasn't far behind, her arrival signaling the official start of the steady cascade of celebrities decked out in gilded glam.

Met Gala 2022 co-chairs:Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Regina King and Lin-Manuel Miranda serve as co-hosts

As one of the evening's co-chairs, Lively aced the carpet with an expert understanding of the theme: Her quick-change gown served as a tribute to New York City, courtesy of Versace.

Other highlights included Billie Eilish, looking as though she just emerged from her sitting room in 1890 to throw a raucous party; Janelle Monáe, glittering in a headpiece and gown from Ralph Lauren; Kerry Washington in Tory Burch; Cardi B, golden in Versace; Bad Bunny, donning an updo and a Burberry ensemble; Lizzo, whose gilded flute was more than just an accessory (she played a tune for reporters); co-chair Lin-Manuel Miranda; Kid Cudi in a stunning royal blue cape; and Rosalia in a corseted Givenchy gown.

While many view fashion as simply frivolity – and there tends to be a true excess of the frivolous at the ball – it continues to serve as an important marker in history. The Costume Institute (and the film directors tapped to design parts of the exhibit) tried to highlight that historical context with stories of unsung heroes, particularly women and people of color, in American fashion. The Met Gala and its 2022 theme also provided a stage to recall historical fashion moments and bring them into the current day with new, history-making ensembles.

Met Gala 2022 exhibit:Regina King, Tom Ford, more directors define American fashion

Beyond the clothes, the carpet featured unseen moments among the guests.

Reynolds looked lovingly down the steps at his wife as she posed for the cameras. Fellow celeb couple Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz shared a cozy embrace at the top of the steps, while Kourtney Kardashian waved to onlookers as she held hands with Travis Barker.

Cynthia Erivo greeted Met Gala veteran Sarah Jessica Parker, who had laryngitis, she told reporters as she hustled up the steps in her voluminous Christopher John Rodgers gown. Valentino designer Pier Paolo Piccioli adjusted Glenn Close's hot pink look before she stepped in front of the camera for the Vogue livestream.

Jimmy Fallon convened with Corey Gamble, Giveon and Kid Cudi, shaking hands and exchanging hugs. When Lizzo spotted Kim Kardashian, she let out a gasp and declared how good the star looked in her gold gown.

Kardashian and Davidson made their Met Gala red carpet debut as a couple, with the reality star and businesswoman draped in the same skin-tight gown Marilyn Monroe donned sing "Happy Birthday" to former President John F. Kennedy, marking nearly 60 years to the day.

Kim Kardashian or Marilyn Monroe? Kim Kardashian, Pete Davidson attend Met Gala

See the power couples:Joe Jonas, pregnant Sophie Turner turn heads at the Met Gala

All of Kardashian's sisters came together on the carpet ahead of her arrival, with mom Kris Jenner and her beau Gamble holding court as they waited for everyone to ascend. Kourtney and Khloe Kardashian stood side by side with sisters Kylie and Kendall Jenner, their unity visually echoing the sentiment they avow in their new Hulu reality series: "Never go against the family."

Afterparties feature celeb sightings, performances

Many celebrities get carpet ready at the nearby Carlyle or Mark hotels, just blocks away from the Met — and close to some of the afterparties.

An Instagram-hosted afterparty at the James B. Duke House featured a DJ set from Anderson .Paak and performance from SZA. Playboy and Cardi B hosted an afterparty at the Boom Boom Room in the Meatpacking District, with guests including Eilish, Awkwafina, Sebastian Stan, Donatella Versace and more.

In midtown, designer LaQuan Smith hosted another one of the night's few afterparties, decking out Peak at Hudson Yards. Although the start time was officially 11 p.m., guests flowed in for several hours (it is the city that never sleeps, after all). Celebrities at the soiree included Teyana Taylor, Saucy Santana, LaLa Anthony and Billy Porter; each had their own VIP area inside the crowded venue.

Guests were ushered up to the 101st floor for a post-gala shindig, complete with a not-yet-released type of Popeye's chicken sandwich (both Taylor and Santana were spotted indulging in the late-night bite) and signature Remy Martin cognac drinks flowed. Pairs of Smith's slippers and brightly-colored sunglasses were available at $1 a pop in quasi-vending machines for partygoers to grab and wear.

Met Gala 2021: How to watch, what to know on fashion's biggest night

Breathtaking, avant-garde ensembles have served as the focal point for the Met Gala's annual celebration of fashion, celebrities and art – but all eyes are on the must-have accessory of the year: a vaccination card.

The biggest names in Hollywood are set to descend upon the Metropolitan Museum of Art's carpeted stairs in New York this fall, more than a year after the COVID-19 pandemic upended nearly all entertainment events and canceled the 2020 Met Gala.

Fashion's biggest night will mark one of the largest red carpet extravaganzas that we have seen in some time, but things may look a little different this year. All attendees must be fully vaccinated from COVID-19, the museum announced in August.

Here's everything you need to know about the 2021 Met Gala, from this year's theme, to safety protocols and the A-list celebrity co-chairs:

When is the Met Gala?

The Met Gala is normally held on the first Monday of May, but because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the event was pushed back to Sept. 13 for a "more intimate" version at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

This will mark the first in-person fundraising event since May 6, 2019 after the 2020 Met Gala was held virtually sans celebrities or red carpet.

2020 Met Gala YouTube substitute: Anna Wintour teams up with Cardi B, Virgil Abloh and Florence Welch

Who are this year's Met Gala co-chairs?

Billie Eilish, 19, Timothée Chalamet, 25, Amanda Gorman, 23, and Naomi Osaka, 23, will be co-chairs of this year's Met Gala, the museum announced in May.

From Eilish channeling her body image struggles into a cutting edge style to Chalamet's bold red carpet choices, Gorman's iconic yellow inaugural coat and Osaka's versatile flair both on and off the tennis court – all four co-chairs have made waves in fashion in their own ways.

Honorary chairs include American fashion designer Tom Ford, Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour and Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, which is sponsoring the gala.

2021 Met Gala co-chairs:Billie Eilish, Timothée Chalamet, Amanda Gorman and Naomi Osaka

What is this year's Met Gala theme?

The 2021 Met Gala is celebrating American fashion.

This year's theme, "In America: A Lexicon of Fashion," will honor the 75th anniversary of the museum’s Costume Institute and "explore a modern vocabulary of American fashion," the museum said.

Andrew Bolton, the curator behind the Costume Institute, told Vogue in April that "American fashion is undergoing a Renaissance."

"The emphasis on conscious creativity was really consolidated during the pandemic and the social justice movements," Bolton told the outlet. "And I’ve been really impressed by American designers’ responses to the social and political climate, particularly around issues of body inclusivity and gender fluidity, and I’m just finding their work very, very self-reflective."

Who's invited?

The guest list is as exclusive and secretive as it gets. We won't know who will attend the Met Gala for sure until the actual event, but where's the fun in knowing ahead of time anyway? Expect to see the "Who's Who" of entertainment and fashion.

However, one person we know won't be at the Met Gala is Zendaya. During an interview last week with Extra for her movie "Dune," the actress shared she would be working instead of walking the red carpet.

"I will unfortunately not be able to attend because I'll be working on 'Euphoria.' … I wish I could especially since this fashion icon (Timothée Chalamet) is going to be hosting," she said.

What are the COVID safety protocols?

The museum requires all visitors age 12 and older to be vaccinated against COVID-19, in accordance to New York's mandate requiring proof of vaccination for indoor activities.

The same will apply to this year's Met Gala.

"Currently, all attendees… must provide proof of full vaccination and will also be expected to wear masks indoors except when eating or drinking," a spokesperson for The Met confirmed to People earlier this month. "We will update these guidelines as needed."

How to stream the Met Gala

The Met Gala is one the hardest invitations to score, but if you are left on the couch like the rest of us, don't fret. The fashion extravaganza will be exclusively streamed by Vogue on Twitter.

The livestream, hosted by actresses KeKe Palmer and Ilana Glazer, will feature "unprecedented access to the Met Gala’s famous red carpet," including interviews with high-profile guests and a close look at their attire.

Head over to twitter.com/voguemagazine on Sept. 13 at 5:30 p.m. EST to tune in.

Already looking forward to next year's Met Gala?

Although the blockbuster fundraiser will take place in the fall this year, the 2022 Met Gala will return to its traditional date on the first Monday of the month: May 2, 2022.

The theme will be a continuation of fashion in the United States, "In America: An Anthology of Fashion," the second installment of the two-part exploration.

When will the exhibits open to the public?

"In America: A Lexicon of Fashion," featuring ensembles exploring fashion in the United States and the "deeper associations with issues of equity, diversity, and inclusion," is slated to open Sept. 18.

Part two, "In America: An Anthology of Fashion," will open in the museum’s popular American Wing period rooms on May 5, 2022. The collection will explore American fashion, with collaborations with film directors, by "presenting narratives that relate to the complex and layered histories of those spaces."

Both exhibits will close Sept. 5, 2022.


China's birthrate declines for first time in decades. It could have ...

China's birthrate has declined for the first time in decades, China's National Bureau of Statistics reported Tuesday, a shift that experts say could influence the global economy.

The world's most populous country had 1.41175 billion people in 2022, a drop of 850,000 compared with 2021. The birthrate was 6.77 births per 1,000 people, a fall from 7.52 births per 1,000 in 2021, according to the statistics agency.

Why China's falling population matters

Researchers believe the lower population growth rate could mean higher labor costs in China because of a smaller pool of available workers. A shrinking labor force could make it harder for China's government to fund its public health and welfare costs, which would suppress China's economy. "Fewer births in China will lead to economic slowdown, manufacturing recession, university bankruptcy, and will also lead to high prices and high inflation in the US and EU," Yi Fuxian, a researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an expert on Chinese demographics, wrote on Twitter.

'Chairman of everything':How China has changed under Xi Jinping

China's National Bureau of Statistics released separate data Tuesday that showed the country's economy grew by 3% in 2022, well below its 5.5% growth target. China's zero-COVID policy had a major effect on its economic activity in 2022.

Why is China's population declining?

Seven years after China began ending its one-child policy limiting population growth, women in China are still choosing to have fewer children or opting to have them later in life, according to the YuWa Population Research Institute, a Beijing-based think tank. Among the reasons cited: rising living costs. YuWa has calculated that China is one of the world's most expensive places for child-rearing; the average cost of raising a child to age 18, as of 2019, is $76,629 – or 6.9 times China's per capita GDP that year. (In the U.S., the figure was 4.11 times per capita GDP.)

"There is a clear trend among young women not wanting to get married and have children anymore, a phenomenon which has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the harsh lockdowns," said Martina Fuchs, a business journalist for Xinhua, a Chinese state news agency. "They choose their financial independence and social freedom and want to have their own lives and careers."

Fuchs is at the World Economic Forum's annual gathering this week in Davos, Switzerland. She said China's population decline is a key topic of discussion among the event's business and political leaders. "Participants are worried about China’s economic performance this year as they pinned their hopes on China playing the role of a growth engine in the current economic crisis."

International news to watch in 2023:Ukraine. Climate catastrophe

Who will overtake China, and when?

China has had a large population for a long time. In 1750, it had a population of 225 million, or about 28% of the world's population that year, according to Our World in Data, a research unit affiliated with Oxford University. China has been the world's most populous nation since at least 1950, and it has not seen any measurable decreases to its population since 1961, the final year of China's Great Famine. But the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences forecasts China's population will soon start decreasing by about 1.1%, or 15 million, each year – in 2022 it fell just 0.06% – pushing its 1.41 billion population to under 600 million in 2100.

By that time, India will have more people than any other country, with a projected population of 1.53 billion. In fact, India is on course to surpass China as the world's most populous country a lot sooner than that, by 2024, when Our World in Data researchers estimate it will have 1.44 billion people.

China records fewest marriages since 1986, adding to fears of ...

CNN —

China last year registered the fewest marriages since its public records began more than three decades ago – adding to concerns the country faces a looming demographic crisis.

There were 7.6 million marriage registrations in 2021, data released by China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs last week shows.

That’s the fewest since 1986, when the ministry began publicly releasing the figures, according to state-run tabloid Global Times. It is a 6.1% decrease from the previous year and the eighth consecutive year marriage rates have fallen.

At the same time, the average age of newlyweds is inching up, with nearly half of those married last year age 30 and above.

The figures reflect a trend that is increasingly a cause for concern among officials in the world’s most populous nation, home to 1.4 billion: young people, especially millennials, are increasingly choosing not to get married or have children – and even when they do, they tend to do so later in life.

Experts say the knock-on effect on what is already a shrinking workforce could have a severe impact on the country’s economy and social stability.

In just six years, the number of Chinese people getting married for the first time fell by 41%, from 23.8 million in 2013 to 13.9 million in 2019, according to China’s National Bureau of Statistics.

The decline is partly due to decades of policies designed to limit China’s population growth, which mean there are fewer young people of marriageable age, according to Chinese officials and sociologists.

But it’s also a result of changing attitudes to marriage, especially among young women who are becoming more educated and financially independent.

Faced with widespread workplace discrimination and patriarchal traditions – such as the expectation for women to be responsible for child care and housework – some women are growing disillusioned with marriage.

Statistics show both genders are delaying marriage. From 1990 to 2016, the average age for first marriages rose from 22 to 25 for Chinese women, and from 24 to 27 for Chinese men, according to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Global Times also pointed to increasing work pressures for young people, who face stagnating wages, a competitive job market and rising costs of living.

The decline in marriages adds to concerns over China’s looming demographic crisis as it struggles to raise a falling birth rate.

In 2014, the country’s working-age population started to shrink for the first time in more than three decades.

The following year, the Chinese government announced an end to its one-child policy, allowing couples to have two children, then increased that to three children in 2021 – but both marriage and birth rates continued to drop.

China isn’t the only country struggling with this problem.

Japan and South Korea have also faced falling birth rates and shrinking populations in recent years.

Governments in all three countries have introduced measures to encourage births – such as financial incentives, cash vouchers, housing subsidies and more child care support – with limited success.

China's birth rate drops for a fifth straight year to record low | CNN ...

Editor’s Note: A version of this story appeared in CNN’s Meanwhile in China newsletter, a three-times-a-week update exploring what you need to know about the country’s rise and how it impacts the world. Sign up here.

Hong Kong CNN Business —

China’s birth rate plummeted for a fifth consecutive year to hit a new record low in 2021, despite government efforts to encourage couples to have more children in the face of a looming demographic crisis.

The world’s most populous country recorded 10.62 million births last year, or only 7.5 births per 1,000 people, according to China’s National Bureau of Statistics — marking the lowest level since the founding of Communist China in 1949.

The number of births was just enough to outnumber deaths, with the population growing by 480,000 to 1.4126 billion. The natural growth rate fell to 0.034%, the lowest since China’s great famine from 1959 to 1961, which killed tens of millions of people and led to a population decline.

New births in 2021 dropped 11.6% from 12.02 million in 2020 — a gentler decline than the 18% plunge that year, from 14.65 million in 2019. Chinese demographers have warned that if the downward trend continues, China’s population could stark shrinking soon.

Ning Jizhe, head of the National Bureau of Statistics, told state media Monday the decline in births stemmed from a combination of factors, from “a decrease in the number of women of childbearing age, a continued decline in fertility, changes in attitudes toward childbearing and delays of marriage by young people,” including due to the pandemic.

The plunging birth rate comes as the Chinese government ramps up efforts to encourage families to have more children, after realizing its decades-long one-child policy had contributed to a rapidly aging population and shrinking workforce that could severely distress the country’s economic and social stability.

To arrest the falling birth rate, the Chinese government announced in 2015 that it would allow married couples to have two children. But after a brief uptick in 2016, the national birth rate has been falling year on year, prompting authorities last year to further loosen the policy to three children.

Ning, the Chinese statistics official, said in 2021, 43% of the children born were the second child in a family. He said the three-child policy is expected to gradually add births, and that “China’s total population will remain above 1.4 billion for a period of time to come.”

For decades, local governments forced millions of women to abort pregnancies deemed illegal by the state under the one-child policy. Now, they are churning out a flurry of propaganda slogans and policies to encourage more births. The common incentives include cash handouts, real estate subsidies and extension of maternity leave.

Last year, more than 20 provincial or regional governments amended their family planning laws, including extending maternity leave for women. For example, eastern Zhejiang province offers 188 days of maternity leave for the third child; and in northern Shaanxi province, women can enjoy 350 days paid leave for having a third child, according to state media reports.

But the policies have failed to convince many women, who worry they’ll be further disadvantaged as companies seek to avoid the extra financial burden.

The high cost of raising children is also deterring parents from having more of them, especially among the country’s growing middle class.

China’s high property prices and rising education costs, especially in big cities, have frequently been cited in surveys as the top factors preventing couples from having more children.

Both sectors have been thrust into the spotlight this year, with the debt crisis surrounding property giant Evergrande and the Chinese government’s sweeping crackdown on the private tutoring industry.

Elon Musk thinks the population will collapse. Demographers say it's ...

CNN —

Billionaire Elon Musk tweeted, not for the first time, that “population collapse due to low birth rates is a much bigger risk to civilization than global warming.” Climate change is a serious problem facing the planet and experts say it’s difficult to compare problems.

What is clear, demographers say, is that the global population is growing, despite declines in some parts of the world, and it shouldn’t be collapsing any time soon – even with birth rates at lower levels than in the past.

“He’s better off making cars and engineering than at predicting the trajectory of the population,” said Joseph Chamie, a consulting demographer and a former director of the United Nations Population Division, who has written several books about population issues.

“Yes, some countries, their population is declining, but for the world, that’s just not the case.”

Population projections by the numbers

The world’s population is projected to reach 8 billion by mid-November of this year, according to the United Nations. The UN predicts the global population could grow to around 8.5 billion in just 8 years.

By 2080, the world’s population is expected to peak at 10.4 billion. Then there’s a 50% chance that the population will plateau or begin to decrease by 2100. More conservative models like the one published in 2020 in the Lancet anticipate the global population would be about 8.8 billion people by 2100.

It’s true that what’s driving current population growth is not a higher birth rate. What drives global population growth is that fewer people are dying young. Global life expectancy was 72.8 years in 2019, an increase of nine years since 1990. That is expected to increase to 77.2 years by 2050.

Globally, the fertility rate has not “collapsed,” nor should it, according to the UN, but it has dropped significantly.

In 1950, women typically had five births each; globally, last year, it was 2.3 births. By 2050, the UN projects a further global decline to 2.1 births per woman.

In some countries, it is lower. In the US the 1950s, it was 3.6 births per woman, it slipped to 1.6 in 2020, according to the World Bank. In Italy, it was 1.2; in Japan, it was 1.3; in China, 1.2. In January 2022, the country announced the birth rate fell for the fifth year in a row, even with the repeal of the one child policy, allowing couples to have up to three children as of 2021.

“Virtually every developed country is below two, and it’s been that way for 20 or 30 years,” Chamie said. Most countries have gone through what’s called a demographic transition.

The only continent that hasn’t finished this transition, he said, is parts of Africa, where there are 15 to 20 countries where the average number of children couples have is five. But in those countries, children still face high death rates. The infant mortality rate for kids under 5 is 8 to 10 times higher than in developed regions, and maternal mortality is more than double, Chamie said.

If women in these African regions had more access to contraception, education, and health care, these problems could be addressed and the global population could decline further – but people would be better off in terms of individual health.

The ‘gold medal’ century

In terms of population growth, the 20th century was an anomaly.

“That century was the most impressive demographic century ever. It had more gold medals than all the other centuries,” Charmie said.

The human population nearly quadrupled, something that had never happened before in recorded history. That’s largely because of improvements in public health.

The world has antibiotics, vaccines, public health programs and improved sanitation to thank for people living longer and more mothers and children surviving birth.

With contraception, especially in 1964, when the oral pill was widely introduced in the US, couples were now better able to determine when and how many children they had.

“Contraception, the oral pill had a much more significant effect on the world than the car,” Charmie said.

As more women got an education, worked outside the home and got a later start on children in many countries with access to contraception, couples had fewer children and the population started to decline.

In 2020, the global population growth rate fell under 1% for the first time since 1950.

The picture in the US

In the US, the fertility rate is down in part due to what Ken Johnson, a senior demographer at the Casey School of Public Poilcy and a professor of sociology at the University of New Hampshire, characterized as a “significant” decline in teen births.

“Most demographers would see that as a good thing,” he said.

He said the other driver was a decline in the number of births to women in their 20s. That trend has been around since 2008. People put off or decided not to have babies in part because of the recession, he said. Covid then exacerbated this trend.

Between July of 2020 and 2021, the growth rate of the US population was the lowest it’s been in probably 100 years he said.

“Is it a collapse of the number of births? No, I wouldn’t say that,” Johnson said.

He said there are a few factors at play in the low US growth rate: fewer births, fewer immigrants due to Trump-era policies, and more deaths as the US population is ages. Covid-19 contributed to higher deaths, too.

“It’s almost like a perfect storm if you will,” Johnson said. “Births are way down, Covid pushes deaths way up, and then immigration is quite slow, too, so it is no wonder that the population growth rate is so low when you bring all those factors together at the same time.”

Preventing population problems down the road

As the population ages and birth rates decline in some areas of the globe, that could put strain on social systems.

The share of the population over age 65 will rise from 10% in 2022 to 16% in 2050. That’s twice the number of kids under age 5.

Globally, the trick to make such a population age imbalance work, is that governments will need to be proactive, the UN says. Countries with aging populations need to adapt public programs that will support this growing population of older people. That means shoring up programs like social security, pensions and establishing universal access to health care and long-term care.

In the US, William Frey, a demographer and senior fellow with Brookings Metro, said he doesn’t see the need for more couples to have more babies to address the age imbalance in the United States. Policies that would support couples that want children – affordable daycare and family leave policies, for example – could help, but that that hasn’t made a big difference in terms of fertility rates.

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Fertility is below the replacement rate in the US, meaning couples are having fewer than two children each, but the rate is not as low as it is in most of Europe, he said.

“I don’t think in the US it’s an issue of collapse, because we can certainly open the faucet for more immigrants anytime we want to,” Frey said. “We’ll have no paucity of people who want to come through the door to immigrate here in the future. Immigrants and their children are younger than the population as a whole and so that will help to keep the population from aging as well.”

UN: World population to hit 8 billion people in November

The world is continuing to grow.

The latest report from the United Nations projects the global population will reach 8 billion people later this year and continue to rise for the next eight decades.

The World Population Prospects 2022 report, released on Monday by the U.N.'s Department of Economic and Social Affairs Population Division, outlined what countries around the world should expect in the coming years.

The global population is expected to reach 8 billion by Nov. 15, the U.N. predicts, but it won't stop there. The population could be around 8.5 billion by 2030, 9.7 billion in 2050 and 10.4 billion in 2100, meaning Earth could have a 31% increase in human population by the end of the century.

The estimated population growth comes as the world's average fertility rate continues to decline. In 2020, the global population growth rate fell below 1% for the first time since 1950. Currently, it's at 2.3 births per woman, down from the average five births per woman in 1950. By 2050, it's expected to slightly fall to 2.1 births per woman.

Still, factors such as the rise of life expectancy are reasons why the global population continues to rise.

"Globally, life expectancy reached 72.8 years in 2019, an increase of almost 9 years since 1990. Further reductions in mortality are projected to result in an average longevity of around 77.2 years globally in 2050," the report reads.

"Two-thirds of the projected increase in global population through 2050 will be driven by the momentum of past growth that is embedded in the youthful age structure of the current population. Such growth would occur even if childbearing in today's high-fertility countries were to fall immediately to around two births per woman."

People ages 65 and older are expected to account for 16% of the human population by 2050, up from 10% in 2022. Men currently make up 50.3% of the population, but by 2050, there are expected to be just as many women as men.

How many people are in the world?: A look at the population in 2022

Global population: Elon Musk says there aren't 'enough people,' birthrate could threaten human civilization

World's most populated country soon won't be China

China has long been the most populous country, but that isn't expected to last long, with India projected to be the world's most populous country in 2023. Each country currently has a population over 1.4 billion people, accounting for over 35% of the global population, but China's population is expected to start declining as early as next year.

By 2050, India is projected to have 1.6 billion people, while China is projected to have 1.3 billion people.

India is just one of eight countries – including the Philippines, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Pakistan and the United Republic of Tanzania – expected to see major population growth by 2050. The increase in several sub-Saharan countries is expected to result in the population doubling in the area.

On the other side of the population spectrum, 61 countries are expected to have a population decrease of at least 1%. Of that list, Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Serbia and Ukraine are projected to lose at least 20% of their population.

What about the United States' population?

North America is projected by the U.N. to reach its peak population in the late-2030s and then start declining "due to sustained low levels of fertility." But that won't affect the population of the U.S.

The U.S. population is currently 337 million people and it is projected to be at 375 million people in 2050, still making it the third most populous country in the world, behind India and China.

Follow Jordan Mendoza on Twitter: @jordan_mendoza5.

South Korea records world's lowest fertility rate -- again | CNN

Seoul, South Korea CNN —

South Korea has broken its own record for the world’s lowest fertility rate, according to official figures released Wednesday, as the country struggles to reverse its years-long trend of declining births.

The country’s fertility rate, which indicates the average number of children a woman will have in her lifetime, sunk to 0.81 in 2021 – 0.03% lower than the previous year, according to government-run Statistics Korea.

To put that into perspective, the 2021 fertility rate was 1.6 in the United States and 1.3 in Japan, which also saw its lowest rate on record last year. In some African countries, where fertility rates are the highest in the world, the figure is 5 or 6.

To maintain a stable population, countries need a fertility rate of 2.1 – anything above that indicates population growth.

South Korea’s birth rate has been dropping since 2015, and in 2020 the country recorded more deaths than births for the first time – meaning the number of inhabitants shrank, in what’s called a “population death cross.”

And as fertility rates drop, South Korean women are also having babies later in life. The average age of women that gave birth in 2021 was 33.4 – 0.2 years older than the previous year, according to the statistics agency.

Meanwhile, South Korea’s population is also getting older, indicating a demographic decline that experts fear will leave the country with too few people of working age to support its burgeoning elderly population – both by paying taxes and filling jobs in fields such as health care and home assistance.

As of last November, 16.8% of South Koreans were over 65 years old, while just 11.8% were age 14 or under.

That proportion of elderly Koreans is rising rapidly – it increased by more than 5% between 2020 and 2021, according to census data. Meanwhile, the working age population – people between ages 15 and 64 – declined by 0.9% between 2020 and 2021.

In South Korea and Japan, there are similar reasons behind the decline in births – including demanding work cultures, stagnating wages, rising costs of living and skyrocketing housing prices.

Many South Korean women say they just don’t have the time, money, or emotional capacity to go on dates as they put their career first in a highly competitive job market in which they often face a patriarchal culture and gender inequality.

The South Korean government has introduced several measures in recent years to tackle the falling fertility rate, including allowing both parents to take parental leave at the same time and extending paid paternal leave.

Social campaigns have encouraged men to take on a more active role in childcare and housework, and in some parts of the country, authorities are handing out “new baby vouchers” to encourage parents to have more children.

Gawon Bae Jessie Yeung
Gawon Bae
Jessie Yeung

US life expectancy lowest in decades after dropping nearly a full ...

CNN —

After a historic drop in 2020, life expectancy in the United States took another significant hit in 2021.

According to provisional data published Wednesday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, life expectancy at birth dropped by nearly a year between 2020 and 2021 – and by more than two and a half years overall since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Life expectancy at birth fell to 76.1 years, the lowest it has been in the US since 1996, and the biggest 2-year decline in a century.

Covid-19 was the driving factor, with deaths from the virus contributing to half of the decline from 2020 to 2021, according to the report from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics.

The death rate from Covid-19 was higher in 2021 than it was in 2020, so it wasn’t particularly surprising that life expectancy would fall again, Bob Anderson, chief mortality statistician for the CDC, told CNN.

Also, drug overdose deaths reached a record high in 2021, killing about 109,000 people. And deaths from unintentional injuries – about half of which are due to drug overdose – was the second-leading cause of the decline in life expectancy.

Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, also said it wasn’t surprising, but it is frustrating.

“It is distressing to see a continuing negative impact of drug overdose on the life expectancy of Americans. These deaths often occur in young adults and therefore represent a tragically high number of years of life lost and devastating impact on individuals, families, and communities,” she said. “We have the science and the tools available to help us reverse this trend and reduce the number of overdose deaths in this country. But these tools are not being used effectively.”

Even if expected, the scale of the decline is still extraordinary. In 2021, mortality rates due to influenza and pneumonia decreased, and if not for these “offsetting effects,” the decline in US life expectancy would have been even greater, according to the report.

“Mortality generally, mainly since the 1950s, has changed rather slowly,” Anderson said. Changes of more than a few tenths of a year have been considered substantial.

An ‘astounding’ decline

The recent decline among American Indian and Alaska Native people is particularly “astounding,” Anderson said.

The life expectancy for this group plunged by nearly 2 years between 2020 and 2021 and a startling 6.6 years since 2019 – more than twice as much as it did for the total US population.

At 65.2 years, the life expectancy for American Indians in 2021 was equal to the overall US life expectancy in 1944.

“When I saw that, in the report, I just – my jaw dropped,” Anderson said.

“It was hard enough to fathom a 2.7 year decline over 2 years overall. But then to see a 6.6 year decline for the American Indian population – it just shows the substantial impact that the pandemic has had on that population.”

Deaths from Covid-19 directly were the leading contributor to the decline in life expectancy among American Indian people in 2021, but deaths due to drug overdose and other unintentional injuries, as well as chronic liver disease, which is often caused by alcohol abuse, were nearly equal contributors for this group.

When it comes to the pandemic, Anderson said, “I’m not just talking about Covid-19 necessarily, but also the other factors that seem to have increased during the pandemic.”

Experts say the pandemic exacerbated already existing disparities for American Indians and others.

Dr. Matthew Clark, a chief medical officer with the Indian Health Service, said the findings of the new CDC report are concerning, but it has been known that American Indian and Alaska Native people “suffer disproportionately with regard to health outcomes for a broad variety of conditions.”

There are “unique aspects to addressing health outcomes” in these communities, he said, and this data should be viewed as a “call to action, an opportunity to redouble our efforts” to address a broad range of factors that impact the health of these populations and engage with tribal communities to find solutions.

“Even in the midst of a very concerning report like this, I do think that there’s hope,” Clark said, and “there is an opportunity to move the needle in the other direction.”

To do that, the goal should be to explore the root causes of those disparities for American Indians and others, said Ruben Cantu, an associate program director with Prevention Institute, a nonprofit focused on health equity.

“A lot of the talk is going to be around the pandemic,” Cantu said. “But we need to think about what has driven the conditions that have allowed certain communities to be more vulnerable” in the first place, like crowded housing, poor access to health care and low-income jobs that don’t allow for paid sick leave.

A separate study, published as a preprint in June, found that the decrease in life expectancy in the US over the course of the pandemic was “highly racialized” and substantially larger than it was for a set of comparable countries. In fact, that study found that life expectancy increased slightly between 2020 and 2021 for the set of 21 peer countries.

Demographic differences

The new data from the CDC highlights differences in life-expectancy trends by race and ethnicity, as well as by gender.

In the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic, life expectancy declined least among White people. In the second year of the pandemic, however, this group saw the second-biggest decline in life expectancy – and deaths due to Covid-19 contributed to the drop among White people more than any other racial or ethnic group.

Once the most vaccinated group, the share of the White population that is fully vaccinated with their initial series now lags behind that of the Black, Hispanic and Asian populations, CDC data shows.

Life expectancy in 2021 was highest among both Asian women (85.6 years) and men (81.2 years), the CDC data shows. Hispanic women were the only other group with a life expectancy greater than 80 years.

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In the total US population, life expectancy fell more among men than among women in 2021, widening a gap that has been growing over the past decade. The disparity in life expectancy between men (73.2 years) and women (79.1 years) is now nearly six years.

The life expectancy for American Indian men in 2021 was 61.5 years, lower than any other group. Black men had the next lowest, at 66.7 years.

A recent project by the Prevention Institute focused on the mental health and well-being of men and boys. It found that men and boys of color – especially Black and Native American men – “start out with higher rates of trauma and mental health challenges,” Cantu said, which can make them more vulnerable to other conditions.

“Over the last five or six years, we’ve heard a lot more about diseases of despair – things like substance use, alcoholism and suicide – and a lot of those things are connected,” he said. “It helps to point out how vulnerable certain communities can be to a lot of other conditions.”

World population hits 8 billion, UN says, as growth poses more ...

CNN —

The world’s population will reach 8 billion people on Tuesday, representing a “milestone in human development” before birth rates start to slow, according to a projection from the United Nations.

In a statement, the UN said the figure meant 1 billion people had been added to the global population in just 12 years.

“This unprecedented growth is due to the gradual increase in human lifespan owing to improvements in public health, nutrition, personal hygiene and medicine. It is also the result of high and persistent levels of fertility in some countries,” the UN statement read.

Middle-income countries, mostly in Asia, accounted for most of the growth over the past decade, gaining some 700 million people since 2011. India added about 180 million people, and is set to surpass China as the world’s most populous nation next year.

But even while the global population reaches new highs, demographers note the growth rate has fallen steadily to less than 1% per year. This should keep the world from reaching 9 billion people until 2037. The UN projects the global population will peak at around 10.4 billion people in the 2080s and remain at that level until 2100.

Most of the 2.4 billion people to be added before the global population peaks will be born in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the UN, marking a shift away from China and India.

Nigera's most populated city, Lagos (pictured), is among African metropolises poised to become the globe's new megacities. Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP/Getty Images

Environmental impact

Reaching an 8 billion global population “is an occasion to celebrate diversity and advancements while considering humanity’s shared responsibility for the planet,” UN Secretary General António Guterres said in the UN statement.

Having more people on Earth puts more pressure on nature, as people compete with wildlife for water, food and space. Meanwhile, rapid population growth combined with climate change is also likely to cause mass migration and conflict in coming decades, experts say.

And whether it’s food or water, batteries or gasoline, there will be less to go around as the global population grows. But how much they consume is equally important, suggesting policymakers can make a big difference by mandating a shift in consumption patterns.

Carbon emissions of the richest 1%, or about 63 million people, were more than double the emissions of the poorest half of humanity between 1990 and 2015, according to a 2020 analysis by the Stockholm Environment Institute and non-profit Oxfam International.

Resource pressure will be especially daunting in African nations, where populations are expected to boom, experts say. These are also among the countries most vulnerable to climate impacts, and most in need of climate finance.

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Tara Subramaniam

China's economy is 'in deep trouble' as Xi heads to Communist Party ...

Hong Kong CNN Business —

When Xi Jinping came to power a decade ago, China had just overtaken Japan to become the world’s second largest economy.

It has grown at a phenomenal pace since then. With an average annual growth rate of 6.7% since 2012, China has seen one of the fastest sustained expansions for a major economy in history. In 2021, its GDP hit nearly $18 trillion, constituting 18.4% of the global economy, according to the World Bank.

China’s rapid technological advances have also made it a strategic threat to the United States and its allies. It’s steadily pushing American rivals out of long-held leadership positions in sectors ranging from 5G technology to artificial intelligence.

Until recently, some economists were predicting that China would become the world’s biggest economy by 2030, unseating the United States. Now, the situation looks much less promising.

As Xi prepares for his second decade in power, he faces mounting economic challenges, including an unhappy middle-class. If he is not able to bring the economy back on track, China faces slowing innovation and productivity, along with rising social discontent.

“For 30 years, China was on a path that gave people great hope,” said Doug Guthrie, the director of China Initiatives at Arizona State University’s Thunderbird School of Global Management, adding that the country is “in deep trouble right now.”

Hostesses stand near images showing Chinese President Xi Jinping at an exhibition highlighting Xi's years as leader, as part of the upcoming 20th Party Congress, on October 12, 2022 in Beijing, China. Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

Economic slowdown and rare dissent

While Xi is one of the most powerful leaders China and its ruling Communist Party have seen, some experts say that he can’t claim credit for the country’s astonishing progress.

“Xi’s leadership is not causal for China’s economic rise,” said Sonja Opper, a professor at Bocconi University in Italy who studies China’s economy. “Xi was able to capitalize on an ongoing entrepreneurial movement and rapid development of a private [sector] economy prior leaders had unleashed,” she added.

Rather, in recent years, Xi’s policies have caused some massive headaches in China.

Chinese President Xi Jinping waves as he arrives for a reception at the Great Hall of the People on the eve of the Chinese National Day in Beijing, China September 30, 2022. Florence Lo/Reuters

A sweeping crackdown by Beijing on the country’s private sector, that began in late 2020, and its unwavering commitment to a zero-Covid policy, have hit the economy and job market hard.

“If anything, Xi’s leadership may have dampened some of the country’s growth dynamic,” Opper said.

More than $1 trillion has been wiped off the market value of Alibaba and Tencent — the crown jewels of China’s tech industry — over the last two years. Sales growth in the sector has slowed, and tens of thousands of employees have been laid off, leading to record youth unemployment.

The property sector has also been bludgeoned, hitting some of the country’s biggest home developers. The collapse in real estate — which accounts for as much as 30% of GDP — has triggered widespread and rare dissent among the middle class.

Thousands of angry homebuyers refused to pay their mortgages on stalled projects, fueling fears of systemic financial risks and forcing authorities to pressure banks and developers to defuse the unrest. That wasn’t the only demonstration of discontent this year.

In July, Chinese authorities violently dispersed a peaceful protest by hundreds of depositors, who were demanding their life savings back from rural banks that had frozen millions of dollars worth of deposits. The banking scandal not only threatened the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of customers but also highlighted the deteriorating financial health of China’s smaller banks.

“Many middle-class people are disappointed in the recent economic performance and disillusioned with Xi’s rule,” said David Dollar, a senior fellow in the John L. Thornton China Center at the Brookings Institution.

According to analysts, the vulnerabilities in the financial system are a result of the country’s unfettered debt-fuelled expansion in the previous decade, and the model needs to change.

“China’s growth during Xi’s decade in power is attributable mainly to the general economic approach adopted by his predecessors, which focused on rapid expansion through investment, manufacturing, and trade,” said Neil Thomas, a senior analyst for China and Northeast Asia at Eurasia Group.

“But this model had reached a point of significantly diminishing returns and was increasing economic inequality, financial debt, and environmental damage,” he said.

A new model is needed

While Xi is trying to change that model, he is not going about it the right way, experts said, and is risking the future of China’s businesses with tighter state controls.

The 69-year old leader launched his crackdown to rein in the “disorderly” private businesses that were growing too powerful. He also wants to redistribute wealth in the society, under his “common prosperity” goal.

Xi hopes for a “new normal,” where consumption and services become more important drivers of expansion than investments and exports.

But, so far, these measures have pushed the Chinese economy into one of its worst economic crises in four decades.

Shoppers walk through Taikoo Li Village Mall in Sanlitun in Beijing, China, on Monday, May 30, 2022. Bloomberg/Getty Images

The International Monetary Fund recently cut its forecast for China’s growth to 3.2% this year, representing a sharp slowdown from 8.1% in 2021. That would be the country’s second lowest growth rate in 46 years, better only than 2020 when the initial coronavirus outbreak pummeled the economy.

Under Xi, China has not only become more insular, but has also seen the fraying of US-China relations. His refusal to condemn Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, and China’s recent aggression towards Taiwan, could alienate the country even further from Washington and its allies.

What are Xi’s options?

Analysts say the current problems don’t yet pose a major threat to Xi’s rule. He is expected to secure an unprecedented third term in power at the Communist Party Congress that begins on Sunday. Priorities presented at the congress will also set China’s trajectory for the next five years or even longer.

“It would likely take an economic catastrophe on the scale of the Great Depression to create levels of social discontent and popular protest that might pose a threat to Communist Party rule,” said Thomas from Eurasia Group.

“Moreover, growth is not the only source of legitimacy and support for the Communist Party, and Xi has increasingly burnished the Communist Party’s nationalist credentials to appeal to patriotism as well as pocketbooks,” he added.

But to get China back to high growth and innovation, Xi may have to bring back market-oriented reforms.

“If he was smart, he would liberalize things quickly in his third term,” said Guthrie.

Taiwan's military has a fertility problem: As China fears grow, its ...

Taipei, Taiwan CNN —

Taiwan has noticed a hole in its defense plans that is steadily getting bigger. And it’s not one easily plugged by boosting the budget or buying more weapons.

The island democracy of 23.5 million is facing an increasing challenge in recruiting enough young men to meet its military targets and its Interior Ministry has suggested the problem is – at least in part – due to its stubbornly low birth rate.

Taiwan’s population fell for the first time in 2020, according to the ministry, which warned earlier this year that the 2022 military intake would be the lowest in a decade and that a continued drop in the youth population would pose a “huge challenge” for the future.

That’s bad news at a time when Taiwan is trying to bolster its forces to deter any potential invasion by China, whose ruling Communist Party has been making increasingly belligerent noises about its determination to “reunify” with the self-governed island – which it has never controlled – by force if necessary.

And the outlook has darkened further with the release of a new report by Taiwan’s National Development Council projecting that by 2035 the island can expect roughly 20,000 fewer births per year than the 153,820 it recorded in 2021. By 2035, Taiwan will also overtake South Korea as the jurisdiction with the world’s lowest birth rate, the report added.

Such projections are feeding into a debate over whether the government should increase the period of mandatory military service that eligible young men must serve. Currently, the island has a professional military force made up of 162,000 (as of June this year) – 7,000 fewer than the target, according to a report by the Legislative Yuan. In addition to that number, all eligible men must serve four months of training as reservists.

Changing the mandatory service requirement would be a major U-turn for Taiwan, which had previously been trying to cut down on conscription and shortened the mandatory service from 12 months as recently as 2018. But on Wednesday, Taiwan’s Minister of National Defence Chiu Kuo-cheng said such plans would be made public before the end of the year.

That news has met with opposition among some young students in Taiwan, who have voiced their frustrations on PTT, Taiwan’s version of Reddit, even if there is support for the move among the wider public.

A poll by the Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation in March this year found that most Taiwanese agreed with a proposal to lengthen the service period. It found that 75.9% of respondents thought it reasonable to extend it to a year; only 17.8% were opposed.

Many experts argue there is simply no other option.

Su Tzu-yun, a director of Taiwan’s Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that before 2016, the pool of men eligible to join the military – either as career soldiers or as reservists – was about 110,000. Since then, he said, the number had declined every year and the pool would likely be as low as 74,000 by 2025.

And within the next decade, Su said, the number of young adults available for recruitment by the Taiwanese military could drop by as much as a third.

“This is a national security issue for us,” he said. “The population pool is decreasing, so we are actively considering whether to resume conscription to meet our military needs.

“We are now facing an increasing threat (from China), and we need to have more firepower and manpower.”

A unique problem?

Taiwan’s low birth rate – 0.98 – is far below the 2.1 needed to maintain a stable population, but it is no outlier in East Asia.

In November, South Korea broke its own world record when its birth rate dropped to 0.79, while Japan’s fell to 1.3 and mainland China hit 1.15.

Even so, experts say the trend poses a unique problem for Taiwan’s military, given the relative size of the island and the threats it faces.

China has been making increasingly aggressive noises toward the island since August, when then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi controversially visited Taipei. Not long after she landed in Taiwan, Beijing also launched a series of unprecedented military exercises around the island.

Since then, the temperature has remained high – particularly as Chinese leader Xi Jinping told a key Communist Party meeting in October that “reunification” was inevitable and that he reserves the option of taking “all measures necessary.”

Chang Yan-ting, a former deputy commander of Taiwan’s air force, said that while low birth rates were common across East Asia, “the situation in Taiwan is very different” as the island was facing “more and more pressure (from China) and the situation will become more acute.”

“The United States has military bases in Japan and South Korea, while Singapore does not face an acute military threat from its neighbors. Taiwan faces the greatest threat and declining birth rate will make the situation even more serious,” he added.

Roy Lee, a deputy executive director at Taiwan’s Chung-hua Institution for Economic Research, agreed that the security threats facing Taiwan were greater than those in the rest of the region.

“The situation is more challenging for Taiwan, because our population base is smaller than other countries facing similar problems,” he added.

Taiwan’s population is 23.5 million, compared to South Korea’s 52 million, Japan’s 126 million and China’s 1.4 billion.

Not just a recruitment problem

Besides the shrinking recruitment pool, the decline in the youth population could also threaten the long-term performance of Taiwan’s economy – which is itself a pillar of the island’s defense.

Taiwan is the world’s 21st largest economy, according to the London-based Centre for Economics and Business Research, and had a GDP of $668.51 billion last year.

Much of its economic heft comes from its leading role in the supply of semiconductor chips, which play an indispensable role in everything from smartphones to computers.

Taiwan’s homegrown semiconductor giant TSMC is perceived as being so valuable to the global economy – as well as to China – that it is sometimes referred to as forming part of a “silicon shield” against a potential military invasion by Beijing, as its presence would give a strong incentive to the West to intervene.

Lee noted that population levels are closely intertwined with gross domestic product, a broad measure of economic activity. A population decline of 200,000 people could result in a 0.4% decline in GDP, all else being equal, he said.

“It is very difficult to increase GDP by 0.4%, and would require a lot of effort. So the fact that a declining population can take away that much growth is big,” he said.

Fighting back

Taiwan’s government has brought in a series of measures aimed at encouraging people to have babies, but with limited success.

It pays parents a monthly stipend of 5,000 Taiwan dollars (US$161) for their first baby, and a higher amount for each additional one.

Since last year, pregnant women have been eligible for seven days of leave for obstetrics checks prior to giving birth.

Outside the military, in the wider economy, the island has been encouraging migrant workers to fill job vacancies.

Statistics from the National Development Council showed that about 670,000 migrant workers were in Taiwan at the end of last year – comprising about 3% of the population.

Most of the migrant workers are employed in the manufacturing sector, the council said, the vast majority of them from Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines.

Lee said in the long term the Taiwanese government would likely have to reform its immigration policies to bring in more migrant workers.

Still, there are those who say Taiwan’s low birth rate is no reason to panic, just yet.

Alice Cheng, an associate professor in sociology at Taiwan’s Academia Sinica, cautioned against reading too much into population trends as they were affected by so many factors.

She pointed out that just a few decades ago, many demographers were warning of food shortages caused by a population explosion.

And even if the low birth rate endured, that might be no bad thing if it were a reflection of an improvement in women’s rights, she said.

“The educational expansion that took place in the 70s and 80s in East Asia dramatically changed women’s status. It really pushed women out of their homes because they had knowledge, education and career prospects,” she said.

“The next thing you see globally is that once women’s education level improved, fertility rates started declining.”

“All these East Asian countries are really scratching their head and trying to think about policies and interventions to boost fertility rates,” she added.

“But if that’s something that really, (women) don’t want, can you push them to do that?”