Top Ten Posts of 2013

The New Year is always a good time for reflection on the year that just ended, to be followed by plans for the coming year. As I did last year, I have taken the time today to see which of the more than 300 items I posted in 2013 have been viewed most often. Here is the top ten hit list:

1. By a very wide margin, the  most popular story was about the birth rate in Egypt:
http://weekspopulation.blogspot.com/2013/05/has-birth-rate-really-risen-in-egypt.html

2. Mexico's population projections based on a drop in fertility to replacement level along with rising life expectancy received considerable interest:
http://weekspopulation.blogspot.com/2013/01/mexicos-population-projections.html

3. The stop in the drop in the US birth rate also was a popular topic:
http://weekspopulation.blogspot.com/2013/09/us-birth-rate-stops-its-decline.html

4. The whole issue of replacement level fertility got a lot of attention:
http://weekspopulation.blogspot.com/2013/05/what-if-replacement-level-fertility-is.html

5. The PopQuiz on which country might be demographically the "worst" (answer: Niger) caught a lot of people's eyes:
http://weekspopulation.blogspot.com/2013/09/popquiz-which-country-has-worst.html

6. A story about the results of the Moroccan Demographic and Health Survey showing a decline in fertility was sixth on the list:
http://weekspopulation.blogspot.com/2013/07/moroccans-applaud-their-fertility.html

7. Evidence that life expectancy in Russia might be on the way back up was seventh on the list: 
http://weekspopulation.blogspot.com/2013/04/life-expectancy-showing-signs-of.html

8. Are rich countries on the cusp of a baby boom? I think not, but some economists in Canada put that idea out there...
http://weekspopulation.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-coming-baby-boom.html

9. The plight of older people in a rapidly changing South Korea was ninth on the list:
http://weekspopulation.blogspot.com/2013/02/filial-piety-takes-hit-in-south-korea.html

10. India's demographics winds up the top ten, with my comments on the incorrect analysis by The Economist on the differences in the Indian and Chinese labor forces:
http://weekspopulation.blogspot.com/2013/05/size-of-labor-force-and-demographic.html

Enjoy this walk down the demographic memory lane of 2013, and I hope that 2014 treats all of us very well.