Theory question 108
Population(a) What is the demographic transition theory?
(b) Explain the three stages of the theory.
Show the model answer
Model answer
(a) The demographic transition theory explains how a country's population growth changes as it develops economically, through changes in birth and death rates.
(b) Stage 1 (pre-industrial): high birth rate and high death rate, so population growth is slow.
Stage 2 (developing/transitional): death rate falls because of better health care, food and sanitation, while birth rate stays high, so population grows rapidly.
Stage 3 (developed): birth rate also falls because of education, urbanisation and family planning; both rates are low and population growth is slow or stable.
Explanation
Each stage is described by the levels of birth and death rates.