PAPP101 - S01: Demography on the world stage

Low fertility and population ageing (cont.)

A population can be said to be ageing when the proportion of the population in older age groups (i.e. 65+) is increasing. This shift in the age distribution of a population is usually due to an increase in the numbers of the elderly and a decrease in the numbers of children and young people.

Initially, the main determinant of population ageing is falling fertility. Low fertility reduces the number of children, and thus increases the relative importance of older age groups. In countries where low fertility has been sustained over a considerable period of time, decreases in mortality at older ages start to play an important role in population ageing. Increases in life expectancy at older ages means that older people stay in the population for longer as they are not dying. This increases the number of people at older ages.

Exercise

1. Based on these determinants of population ageing, and what you know about demographic trends in different areas of the world, which region do you think has the highest proportions of the population in the older age groups?

	a)	Africa
	b)	Asia
	c)	Europe
	d)	Latin America
	e)	North America
Check your answer
Please select an answer Wrong, try again. Not right, sorry. Try again. Yes, the region with the highest proportion of people in the older age groups is Europe at 16% (UN Population Division, 2011). The region has had low fertility for a long period of time, and there have been many medical advances which have increased survival at older ages. Incorrect, sorry. Incorrect, please try again.

2. Which of these regions do you think has the lowest proportion of the population in the older age groups?