The demographic transition in low income countries (cont.)
The timing and speed of modern demographic transitions
The most obvious difference is the timing of the demographic transitions in the rest of the world compared with those which occurred in Europe. However, despite occurring later, once mortality began to fall in the less developed countries, it fell far more quickly than during historical transitions.
Because of the rapid decline in mortality rates, and the higher starting levels of fertility, growth rates increased to levels which were not seen in historical Europe. These growth rates continued for considerable amount of time (and some continue today) due to the lag in fertility decline, leading to huge increases in population. Some populations which underwent the demographic transition during the course of the 20th century will have increased their population size over ten-fold by the time their fertility has dropped to replacement level (Cleland 2001).
Demographic transition: India
Source: LSHTM