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Bhutan is offering families cash incentives to have more children as the tiny Himalayan kingdom grapples with a nosediving birthrate and a growing exodus of young people seeking opportunities abroad.
Annual births have dropped by more than a quarter over the past decade, compounding the country’s loss of youngsters to migration.
Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay has repeatedly rung the alarm over the population slump, calling it an “existential” crisis, according to the state’s Bhutan Broadcasting Service.
“The evidence is unambiguous — Bhutan’s fertility has declined to near or below replacement level,” Tobgay wrote in the introduction to the government’s “Third Child Plus” programme, launched in June.
The scheme provides monthly payments of $105 for each third or subsequent child until they turn three.
Khandu Wangmo, a 35-year-old civil servant, welcomed the incentive but questioned whether cash payments alone would persuade families to have more children.
“It is a good initiative because it encourages families to have three or more children,” she said.
“However, its impact may be limited if the cost of raising children, housing, and childcare remains high.”
For the landlocked kingdom of fewer than 800,000 people, wedged between India and China, the issue carries particular weight.
Births of third or more children, the focus of the new scheme, have fallen 27 percent since 2020, according to the report.
Bhutan’s fertility rate has fallen to about 1.8 children per woman, below the replacement level, while the share of people aged 65 and over is projected to rise from around six percent to 17 percent by 2050, according to UN estimates.
“These are not abstract statistics,” Tobgay said. “They represent real and compounding pressures on Bhutan’s workforce, fiscal sustainability, and the social fabric of communities across the country.”
The government fears that falling births, combined with sustained outward migration, will leave too few working-age people to support the economy and an ageing population.
More than 71,000 Bhutanese were abroad, as of May 2026, with 39,000 — about 55 percent of the overseas population — in Australia, according to the report.
“While migration brings remittance benefits, its concentration among prime working and reproductive ages further constrains labour force participation, domestic fertility, and long-term population momentum,” the programme briefing note warned.
Experts say the reasons behind smaller families are complex, ranging from rising living and childcare costs to changing priorities.
Preeti Nirola, 34, who has one child, said she would like another but finances remain a major obstacle.
“I would like to have one more child if my financial situation allows,” she said.
“However, the high cost of childcare and household expenses makes it a difficult decision.”
