A state's health report looks back over three decades. In the earliest decade births far outnumbered deaths each year and numbers grew fast. Since then both the birth rate and the death rate have fallen steadily. In the latest decade the two rates have come so close that the gap between them is very small, with births only just ahead of deaths. Planners now want to know how demographers would describe this condition of the state.
Which term would demographers use for the condition of the state in the latest decade?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → Stabilised population
Option (1) Demographic dividend — Incorrect. The demographic dividend is the gain a country makes when working-age people form a large share compared with dependants. The report speaks of birth and death rates coming close, and gives nothing on age groups.
Option (2) Falling dependency ratio — Incorrect. The dependency ratio compares the dependent age groups, children and the old, with the working-age group. A falling ratio describes the age make-up of a population, which the report does not discuss.
Option (3) Below-replacement fertility — Incorrect. Below-replacement fertility means births fall short of what is needed to replace those dying, so the growth rate turns negative. In the state births are still just ahead of deaths, so growth is small but not negative.
Option (4) Stabilised population — Correct. The rate of natural increase is the gap between the birth rate and the death rate. When this gap is zero or, in practice, very small, demographers say the population has stabilised.
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