Which of the following is NOT a component of population change?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → Sex Ratio
Option (1) Sex Ratio — Not a component (Correct). The sex ratio is the number of females per thousand males. It only tells how a population is divided between women and men; it adds no one to an area and takes no one away, so it cannot change the size of the population.
Option (2) Births — A component (Incorrect). Every birth adds a person to the population. The more live births there are per thousand people in a year (the crude birth rate), the faster the population grows.
Option (3) Death — A component (Incorrect). Every death takes a person out of the population. When the death rate falls, more people survive each year, so a population grows not only through more births but also through a falling death rate.
Option (4) Migration — A component (Incorrect). When people move, the place of origin loses them and the place of destination gains them. So, apart from births and deaths, migration is the third way the size of a population changes.
Note: The same question was also asked in CUET (UG) 2026 on 24-05-2026 (Slot 1) and 20-05-2026 (Slot 1).
NCERT (2025-26): “Components of Population Change … There are three components of population change – births, deaths and migration.… Components of Population Change … Death rate plays an active role in population change. Population growth occurs not only by increasing births rate but also due to decreasing death rate.… Migration Apart from birth and death there is another way by which the population size changes.” |