Boy or Girl? Visualizing Global Child Gender Preferences (2024)

We visualized data from the Gallup International End of Year Survey 2024, which polled approximately 45,000 people across 44 countries. The survey posed a simple yet revealing question: "Suppose you could have only one child. Would you prefer that it be a boy or a girl, or is gender irrelevant?"

To effectively showcase the diverse cultural sentiments, we categorized and ranked the nations into three distinct groups based on their dominant preferences:

1. Boy Lovers: Countries that still show a strong traditional preference for sons. India topped this list with 39% preferring a boy, followed by the Philippines (35%) and Ecuador (24%).
2. Girl Lovers: Interestingly, South Korea emerged as the country with the highest preference for daughters (28%) globally, marking a significant cultural shift from the past. It is followed by Spain (26%) and Japan (26%).
3. Neutrals: The global consensus is increasingly shifting towards gender neutrality. A vast majority in countries like Mexico (84%), Georgia (82%), and Sweden (81%) responded that the gender of the child is irrelevant.

This visualization goes beyond simple statistics, offering a glimpse into evolving family values and cultural dynamics around the world. While some regions hold onto traditional preferences, the overwhelming global trend is moving towards a mindset where a child's gender matters less than the child itself.

What are your thoughts on these findings?

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