Demographic Transition
Introduced| English | Meaning |
|---|---|
| demographic transition/ˌdeməˈɡræfɪk trænˈsɪʃn/ | The shift from high to low birth and death rates as a country develops. |
| pre-industrial/priː ɪnˈdʌstrɪəl/ | pre-industrial |
A predictable journey
- As countries develop, their populations change in a predictable way.
- First they grow explosively, then the growth slows and stops.
- This pattern has repeated across nation after nation.
- It is called the demographic transition.
The four stages
- The demographic transition 人口转变 has four stages.
- Stage 1 (pre-industrial 工业化前): high birth and death rates, so the population is small and stable.
- Stage 2 (early developing): the death rate falls but birth stays high — rapid growth.
- Stage 3 (industrialising): the birth rate now falls too — growth slows.
The four stages of the demographic transition
The demographic transition describes how, as a country develops…
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The demographic transition is the shift from high birth and death rates to low ones as a country develops.
Where growth is fastest
- The fastest growth is in Stage 2.
- Better food, medicine, and sanitation cut the death rate.
- But families still have many children, so births far outnumber deaths.
- This gap produces the population explosion.
The demographic transition
Step through the stages - as a country develops, birth and death rates fall and growth slows.
In which stage does the population grow fastest?
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In Stage 2, falling deaths and still-high births create the fastest growth.
Reaching stability
- In Stage 4 (developed), both birth and death rates are low.
- Education, cities, and wealth mean smaller families.
- The population is large but roughly stable.
- Most wealthy countries have reached this final stage.
In the final stage, both birth and death rates are ____, so the population is roughly stable.
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By Stage 4, both rates are low, so a developed country's population is large but stable.
Development, education, and healthcare help a country move through the demographic transition.
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As living standards, education, and healthcare improve, birth and death rates both fall.
Select all true statements about the demographic transition.
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By Stage 4, growth slows and can even stop. The other three are correct.
Notice that death rates fall before birth rates. That lag is exactly why the population booms in Stage 2 — deaths drop quickly, but it takes a generation or two for families to choose to have fewer children. The gap between the two is the source of rapid growth.
A country developing over a century:
- In 1900 (Stage 1), it has high births and high deaths — a small, steady population.
- Medicine arrives (Stage 2): deaths fall, births stay high, and the population soars.
- By 2000 (Stage 4), education and cities lower births too — the population is large but stops growing.
The demographic transition describes how, as a country develops, it passes through four stages: from high birth and death rates (pre-industrial), through falling death rates and a population boom (Stage 2, fastest growth), to low birth and death rates and a stable population (Stage 4). Death rates fall before birth rates, causing the boom.