Men will dramatically outnumber women within decades due to 'cultural preferences' for boys

Men will dramatically outnumber women within decades because of ‘cultural preferences’ for boys and prenatal sex selection, a study has found. 

The paper, published in the journal BMJ Global Health, blamed cultural preferences for boys for causing uneven ratios and projected a ‘conservative’ deficit of 4.7million female births by 2030.

Researchers also said prenatal sex selection had led to skewed ratios at birth in countries across the globe since the 1970s.

They warned over one third of the world’s population would be left with long-term sex imbalances as a result, with unknown social and economic impacts on affected countries.      

Lead author Dr Fengqing Chao said: ‘Fewer than expected females in a population could result in elevated levels of antisocial behaviour and violence, and may ultimately affect long-term stability and social sustainable development.’

Researchers said understanding the potential evolution of sex imbalances at birth was ‘essential’ for anticipating and planning for changing sex structures across the world. 

Dr Chao called for ‘broader legal frameworks’ to establish gender equality. 

The results were projected in a global sex ratio model using over three billion birth records from 1970 to 2020 from 204 countries. 

The data also included records from countries, such as China and India, which already have an uneven birth sex ratio. 

The results showed several sub-Saharan countries, Nigeria, and Pakistan, were expected to have a skewed sex ratio in the coming years – but projected the rate was likely to plateau and then decline in two decades.