Sperm Count in Western Males is Declining

Is male sperm count declining? It's been a topic of debate for some time now. The problem is that the decline, if it exists, has been so slow that it has been difficult to measure.

To answer the question of whether or not male sperm count is declining, researchers conducted a massive meta-study (an analysis of many previous studies) of male ejaculate sperm concentration and total sperm count. Authors of the meta-study looked for all previous studies of sperm concentration and sperm count in Western men (men from North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand) published between 1973 and 2011. In all, the meta-study included data from 185 previous studies involving almost 43,000 Western men over almost 40 years, making it the largest such study ever. In order to avoid problems associated with changing laboratory methods, the authors included only studies that used the same laboratory analysis method throughout.

The results showed a decline of sperm concentration of only 1.4% per year (that's why it was so hard to see in individual studies). But over the nearly 40-year time span, that's a decline of over 50% in ejaculate sperm concentration! Total sperm count declined even more; by 60%, in fact.

Of course, no one has any information yet on just why the decline might be occurring. But with fairly definitive evidence now that it is occurring, we can expect researchers to turn more aggressively to the question of why, and what might be done about it.