Third stage of demographic transition
Topic: World Population: Distribution, Density, Growth and Migration · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 2 "The World Population: Distribution, Density and Growth"
Meaning
In the third stage of demographic transition, both births and deaths are low. Population becomes stable or grows only slowly. People are mostly urban, literate and technically skilled. They choose small families on purpose. This is the last stage of the three-stage model taught in NCERT.
Example
Kerala, in south-west India, has low birth and death rates. It reached this stage through literacy and health care, not heavy industry. This is why critics say the theory, based on Europe, does not fit every place.
Don't confuse with
- Fifth stage (decline) in the five-stage model: In stage three, births and deaths are roughly balanced. In the extra fifth stage, births fall below deaths and population shrinks, as in Japan and Italy.
Related concepts
- Demographic transition theory
- First stage of demographic transition
- Second stage of demographic transition
- Youth bulge
- Population ageing