Global average sperm count has fallen by 51.6 per cent, says Oxford study

The data, which was meta-analysed, says that the average sperm concentration fell from an estimated 101.2m per ml to 49.0m per ml, a stark drop of 51.6%.

Hyderabad: In the same month when the world population touched the 8-billion mark, the latest study published in the journal of ‘Human Reproduction Update’, published by Oxford University Press suggests that the sperm count is declining rapidly.

Epidemiologists Hagai Levine and Shanna Swan along with their colleagues put together all the data available from 1973-2018. The data is taken from over 50 countries, including India.

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The data, which was meta-analysed, says that the average sperm concentration fell from an estimated 101.2m per ml to 49.0m per ml, a stark drop of 51.6%.

Total sperm count also fell by 62.3% during the same period. The same team which conducted this research also published another report in 2017 titled ‘Temporal trends in sperm count: a systematic review and meta-regression analysis’. This report found that sperm concentration had more than halved in the last 40 years.

The latest report also indicates that people might experience a reproductive crisis soon. If the sperm concentration in a male falls below 40 million per ml, it will impact the chances of fertility.

Experts around the world say that exposure to human-made chemicals, poor diet, lack of physical activity, poor diet, smoking, and obesity may be some of the reasons for the decline in average sperm count.

While not all men are expected to turn up at the infertility centre in the near future, it will take longer to conceive a child if the current trend persists.