POPULATION

Introduction
 World population has followed as S-shaped
pattern of growth overtime. In antiquity, the
rate of population growth was very slow.
Birth and death rates were both very high.
As death rates fell with the development of
modern medicine, population growth
accelerated in the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries and continued into the twentieth
and now, twenty-first century.
 In Asia, population growth rates were among the
highest in the world during the period since World
War II. Between 1950 and 1990, the total population
of Asia (18 countries) increased by 125 percent,
compared with only 112% growth for the world
population (Sanderson and Tan, 1995,p.4).
 Population is always a subject of interest to analysts
of economic growth. In the early days, many
economists, led by Thomas Malthus (1798), warned
of the gloomy consequences of an ever increasing
population. These include hunger, famine, and
poverty as population growth consumed any addition
in income and wealth.
Birth and Death Rates

Birth and death rates are two

fundamental concepts necessary to
understand population issues.
 Birth rates refer to the number of births

per thousand people.

 Death rates represent the number of

deaths per thousand of people.

DISTRIBUTION OF WORLD’S
POPULATION:
 East Asia: Approximately one-fourth of the world's population lives in
the East Asia region comprising eastern parts of China, Japan, the Korean
Peninsula and the island of Taiwan. Five-sixths of the people in this
region live in China.
 South Asia has the second largest concentration of people. The region
comprises India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. More than 20% 0f
the world's population lives in South Asia and India, the world's second
most populous country contains more than three-fourths of the people in
this region.
 South-East Asia: A third Asian population cluster, and the world's fourth
largest comprise series of islands that lie between Pacific and Indian
Oceans. The largest concentration is on the island of Java (Indonesia)
inhabited by more than 100 million people. Indonesia consists of more
than 13,677 islands and is the fourth most populous country in the world.
Included in this region is Philippines.
 Europe: The world's third largest population cluster
encompasses about two dozen countries that occupy much of
Europe from the United Kingdom to western Russia.
Approximately 15% of the world's people live in this cluster.
 North America: The largest concentration of people in the
Western Hemisphere is in the Northeastern United States and
South Eastern Canada. Approximately 150 million people live in
this region and like the Europeans, most Americans are urban
dwellers and fewer than 5% are farmers.
 Sparsely Populated Areas: Harsh environments such as deserts
and very cold tundra or hot and wet tropical regions are sparsely
populated. The largest desert region of the world extends from
North Africa to Southwest and Central Asia and includes Sahara,
Arabian, Thar, Makan and Gobi deserts. The largest desert
region in the Southern Hemisphere is found in Australia.
 THE DEMOGRAPHIC TRANSITION THEORY

Demographic transition refers to changes in population

growth that occur when a country moves from high birth
and death rates to low birth and death rates as the country
embarks upon industrialization. The changes take place in
4 stages of a nations development:
Stage 1: Pre-Industrial Stage: the country is in the pre-
industrial state, high birth and high but fluctuating death
rates are experienced.
Stage II: Early Industrial Stage: Death rates fall because
of improving economic and social conditions but birth rates
remain high.
 THE DEMOGRAPHIC TRANSITION THEORY

Stage III: Industrial Stage: Birth rates begin

to fall due to industrial development, education
and jobs. Death rates also falls due to advanced
medical practices, research and improved living
conditions.
Stage IV: Post-Industrial Stage: Zero
population growth, death rates falls drastically
and birth rate is low but fluctuates.
Why Cant Developing Countries today take
advantage of the Demographic Transition

1. Lack of trained personnel for industrial

development.
2. Lack of an essential energy base and or a
combination of factors
3. Rapid population growths and the resulting
cycle of poverty prevent savings and
investment.
4. Lack of financial resources.
POPULATION INCREASE:
Natural Increase: is a measure of population growth
that examines the difference between births (fertility)
and deaths (mortality) in a country for a given year.
 The number of persons born per 1,000 individuals

in population for a given year is the Crude Birth

Rate
 The number of persons per 1000 individuals in a

population who die in a particular year is

the Crude Death Rate.
Determinants of Fertility and Birth Rates

The Economics of Fertility

The economic approach attempts to explain
determinants of childbearing using what is
called the microeconomic theory of fertility.
In this theory, children are treated just like
any other consumer good for which there are
costs and benefits to their “consumption”.
 FERTILITY RATE:
 Total Fertility Rate is a measure of the average number
of children a woman can have during the reproductive
years of her life (15 - 49 years). It is an average figure
that reveals the number of children per family. In 1990, the
total fertility rate for American women was 2.0, after
declining from about 3.3 in 1950 to 1.8 in 1985. It is
currently less than 2.
 On the global scale, the total fertility rate was 3.0 in 1996.
It was higher (3.4) in developing countries and lower
(1.6) in developed nations. Africa in 1996 had a fertility
rate of 5.7, S.E Asia has 3.6 and the Caribbean 3.1
 The Demand for Children in Developing
Countries
Why is there a high demand for children in the developing
countries?
The Costs :
there are at least two kinds of costs associated with
children. One is the direct costs – children have to be fed,
clothed, kept healthy, and schooled. Direct costs are,
however, not the main reason that families in developing
countries are much larger in size than those in developed
economies.
 The Demand for Children in Developing
Countries

The Costs :
Indirect or opportunity costs is measured
in terms of the time, effort and resources
foregone in the process of bringing up
children. Most commonly, this includes
income given up by a parent who stays
home to look after the child.
The Benefits:
In developing countries, children begin
to assist in a range of farm and household
production activities at a very early age.
Another important reason for the high
demand for children in developing
countries is that they are considered the
principal providers of old-age security for
the parents.