Why do developed countries have lower population growth rates than developing countries? What is the “demographic transition”?
Less developed countries have high birth rates and high death rates. Economic development includes several changes that lead to declines in both birth and death rates. As countries improve sanitation and nutrition, death rates decrease. Economic development also leads to less dependence of parents on large numbers of children, especially sons, to support the parents in retirement. Education of young women is one of the most important factors leading to lowered birth rates in most of the world. Typically, death rates decline sooner than birth rates. During the time when death rates are low and birth rates are high, population growth accelerates. This lag time is referred to as demographic transition. Most African and south Asian countries are in the early stages of the demographic transition. Newly industrialized countries such as Thailand and Malaysia are fairly far along in this process, and their populations will soon level off. The developed world (North America, western Europe, Jap
