Barbados is confronting a deepening demographic crisis marked by falling birth rates, an ageing population and looming labour shortages.

Senior officials gave that warning yesterday as Government opened a two-day workshop aimed at developing an implementation plan for the Barbados Population Policy 2023-2040.

Speaking during the opening ceremony of the Capacity Building Workshop for the Development of an Implementation Plan for the Barbados Population Policy 2023-2040 at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Development, Jennifer Hunte, revealed that Barbados has recorded a steady decline in birth and fertility rates for more than six decades.