In which stage of Demographic Transition Theory fertility and mortality rates remain high?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → Stage I
Option (1) Stage I — Correct. The first stage has high fertility and high mortality. Epidemics and an uncertain food supply cause many deaths, so people have many children to make up for the deaths. The high births are largely cancelled by the high deaths, so the population grows slowly.
Option (2) Stage II — Incorrect. Here mortality falls with better sanitation and health, so the two rates are no longer both high.
Option (3) Stage III — Incorrect. By the last stage both rates have declined considerably.
Option (4) Second half of the second stage — Incorrect. By then mortality has fallen and fertility is declining too.
Note: A similar question was also asked in CUET (UG) 2023 on 23-05-2023 (Slot 1).
NCERT (2025-26): “DEMOGRAPHIC TRANSITION … Fig. 2.2 explains the three-staged model of Demographic Transition Theory: 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. The population growth is slow and most of the people are engaged in agriculture where large families are an asset. Life expectancy is low, people are mostly illiterate and have low levels of technology. Two hundred years ago all the countries of the world were in this stage.” “DEMOGRAPHIC TRANSITION … Fertility remains high in the beginning of second stage but it declines with time. This is accompanied by reduced mortality rate. Improvements in sanitation and health conditions lead to decline in mortality. Because of this gap the net addition to population is high. 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.…”
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