23 Oct 2023 --- The future of infant formula markets in Asia in connection with the dwindling population in China has come into the spotlight following Nestlé’s closure of a manufacturing plant in Ireland that serves the Chinese market. The food giant and instant formula maker cited China’s declining birth rate as one of the key reasons for the closure, and this has prompted further analysis and discussion over future opportunities and challenges within the infant formula space. However, several companies believe that innovation and stricter regulation provide plenty of opportunity for infant formula development in the years ahead, despite a growing global trend where women are having fewer babies, or having babies later in life. The United Nations (UN) reports that the global population is expected to increase by two billion by the year 2050. However the UN Population Fund notes that, regardless of growth, the global birth rate is in decline and has fallen from five births per woman in the 1950s to 2.3 births per woman in 2021, with Europe and Asia being some of the hardest hit countries.
