>>404581Rate of profit is tied to the individual level of consumption and the cost of production of items to be consumed.
If the population drops, the rate of consumption remains static. Because the amount an individual consumes will remain more or less the same regardless of overall population size. You will still eat, have clothes, live in a house, and want luxuries regardless of how big you town/city is.
If the population drops then the rate of production can either drop or rise depending on the level of automation in primary and secondary industries.
If there is a low level of automation then the cost of production will remain static, because while there will be fewer workers , they will be less demand for products , so the workload and pay of a worker will remain more or less the same.
But if there is a moderate to high level of automation then the cost of production could remain static or perhaps even fall. Since machines don't need to be paid as much as workers (high initial cost / life of machine is less than the cost of wages)
In the first scenario of a roughly static rate consumption and production costs then profits will remain static. falling demand is met with an equal fall in demand resulting in no change.
In the second scenario where the individual rate of consumption remains the same, but the cost of production remains static or falls could result in the rate of profit could remaining static or even rising.