Saudi Arabia stands out as one of only two economies among the world’s top 20 where fertility rates remain above the replacement level of 2.1 children per woman, according to the Ipsos Generations Report 2026 released recently.
With a projected fertility rate of 2.27 for 2026, the kingdom leads all 20 major economies on this measure, followed only by Indonesia at 2.08. Every other economy in the top 20 — from India at 1.93 to South Korea at a striking 0.76 — sits below the level needed to sustain its population.
Saudi Arabia’s generational profile is also notably younger than most of its G20 peers. Millennials account for 32.80% of Saudi Arabia’s population — the highest Millennial share among the top 20 economies — while the country’s 65-and-over population stands at just 3%, among the lowest in the group. The kingdom’s population pyramid remains broad at the base, a demographic position that contrasts sharply with the rapidly inverting pyramids of Europe and East Asia.
The consumer extinction threat
The report’s central and most urgent finding concerns what it terms “the consumer extinction” — a structural collapse in the number of future buyers. Population decline is described as a mathematical certainty, with in 19 of the world’s 20 largest economies, the number of children a woman has in her lifetime now below the level needed to replace the population, and set to fall even further.
The data is stark. China’s total fertility rate has fallen from 3.57 in 1975 to just 1.02 in 2025, a five-year decline of 18%, while France has dropped 13%, Germany and Japan each 12%, Canada 11%, the United Kingdom 10%, Italy and Brazil each 9%, India 7%, and the United States 1%.
The report identifies urbanization, capitalism, and culture as the three primary drivers of declining fertility. On culture specifically, the report argues that humanity has become the first species in its history to actively decide against striving to create the next generation, with individuals instead prioritizing their own lives in the present. Crucially, the report concludes that no government has found a consistent solution to reverse fertility decline — not even Nordic countries with their extensive work-life balance policies, nor Hungary despite nationalizing IVF and offering large tax incentives.
The economic consequences extend beyond headcount. The report draws a distinction between two consumer groups: the “dormant economy” of older, asset-rich consumers who are largely ignored by brands, and the “endurance economy” of younger people who feel locked out of homeownership and retirement savings. It argues that AI, while reducing production costs, does nothing to address the consumption gap, since robots do not buy products.
Rewriting the consumer life cycle
Longstanding demographic changes alongside housing, employment and cost-of-living pressures have created a new life stage described as being a “proto-adult” or a “20-something”, where young people are stuck in an extended period before traditional adulthood.
The data supporting this is consistent across countries. The mean age at first marriage for both men and women in OECD countries rose by six years between 1990 and 2021, and the age at which a woman has her first child has risen steadily since 1975 across a range of countries. In South Korea, the average age of a mother at first birth has reached 33.1, up from 27.7 in 2000.
At the other end of the age spectrum, the report introduces the concept of “omnigenarians” — the collective term for septuagenarians through to centenarians. Global life expectancy now stands at 73.2 years, having risen across every region of the world, with people living an extra 27 years compared with 1950. Across OECD countries, this translates to approximately 20 years of post-retirement life before end of life — 22.8 years for women and 18.6 years for men.
Despite this group’s scale and growing significance, four in ten people across 33 countries believe that brands and advertisers value people under 50 more than people over 50.
Between these two groups sits what the report calls the “sandwiched” generation — middle-aged people simultaneously caring for dependent children and ageing parents. The report notes that as people have children later in life, their children remain young and dependent at precisely the same time their own parents require care, compounding both financial and emotional pressure.
Whatever happened to Millennials
The report observes that the youngest generation remains the object of media frenzy, with seemingly endless headlines about Gen Z and increasingly Gen Alpha, while Millennials — aged 31 to 46 in 2026 — have effectively been forgotten.
Yet the numbers make ignoring them a significant strategic error. Millennials form the largest generation by population across the top 20 economies overall, numbering over 1.08 billion, and the world’s median person is now a 31-year-old Millennial.
The report highlights a growing internal divide within the generation. In the United States, college-educated Millennials have seen their incomes surpass those of Gen X at the same age, while blue-collar Millennials are merely on par with their Gen X counterparts at age 40. The report cautions against treating Millennials as a monolithic group, noting that a 15-year generational span covers people at vastly different life stages.
Generations at work — a tale of life stage, not generation
Drawing on over 3.6 million employee responses across industries, roles, and regions, the report’s workplace chapter finds that perceived generational clashes at work are largely life-stage effects rather than true generational differences.
Rather than Gen Z, Millennials, or Gen X experiencing work fundamentally differently, the data points to a consistent workforce lifecycle where optimism, pressure and eventual stability unfold in recognisable patterns as careers develop.
The youngest workers aged 16 to 25 score highest on pride and advocacy for their organisations but lowest on belonging and intent to stay. Workers aged 36 to 45 carry the heaviest strain and workload barriers, yet retain high job enjoyment and pride. The 46 to 55 cohort reports the highest intent to stay and peaks in belonging despite experiencing the most constant workplace stress. Workers aged 56 to 65 score lowest on communication-related measures, including trust in executive leadership.
The report identifies six themes showing virtually no variation between age bands: ability to be oneself, feeling recognised, psychological safety, inclusive culture, strategic clarity, and pride. These, it argues, are the universal foundations of a functioning workplace regardless of generation.
Traditional aspirations endure
Despite all the structural pressures documented across the report, traditional life aspirations have not disappeared. Six in ten Gen Z still expect one day to own their own home, more than one in two expect to get married, and one in two expect to become a parent. The report treats this persistence of aspiration — against a backdrop of declining probability — as one of the defining tensions of the current generational moment.
