Identify the characteristics of the third stage of demographic transition.
(A) Life expectancy is low.
(B) Both fertility and mortality decline considerably
(C) The population is either stable or grows slowly
(D) The population becomes urbanised
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → (B), (C) and (D) only
The third stage is the last stage of demographic transition.
(A) Life expectancy is low. — Incorrect. Low life expectancy belongs to the first stage. By the third stage people live longer.
(B) Both fertility and mortality decline considerably — Correct. Better health care cuts deaths, and families choose to have fewer children, so births and deaths both fall to low levels.
(C) The population is either stable or grows slowly — Correct. With few births and few deaths, the two nearly balance each other, so numbers hardly rise.
(D) The population becomes urbanised — Correct. In this stage most people live in towns and cities, can read and write, and use modern technology.
Note: A similar question was also asked in CUET (UG) 2023 on 14-06-2023 (Slot 3).
NCERT (2026-27): “The first stage has high fertility and high mortality because people reproduce more to compensate for the deaths due to epidemics and variable food supply. … Life expectancy is low, people are mostly illiterate and have low levels of technology.” “In the last stage, both fertility and mortality decline considerably. The population is either stable or grows slowly. The population becomes urbanised, literate and has high technical know-how and deliberately controls the family size.” |