Question

Define age structure, death rate and birth rate.

Answer 1

Hint: India ranks second in terms of population after China. It is also one of the largest countries in the world whose population is increasing rapidly.

Complete answer: The distribution of people among different age groups in a country is referred to as the age structure. The population of a nation can be grouped into three categories - Children below the age of 15 are economically unproductive and provided with basic necessities such as food, shelter, education, medical facilities etc. This group comprises 26.62 percent (2019 census) of India’s total population.
- Working-age groups, ranging from 15-64 years are economically productive and contribute to the development of the economy. This group comprises 67 percent (2019) of India’s total population.
- People above 65 years of age, can be economically productive but are not available for employment through recruitment. This group comprises 6.38 percent (2019 census) of India’s total population. The number of deaths per 1000 people is termed as the death rate and the number of births per 1000 people is referred to as the birth rate. When the total number of deaths is more than the total number of births, it leads to a decline in population. Similarly, when the total number of births is more than the total number of deaths, it leads to the growth of population. In addition, there will be no growth in population when the death rate is equal to the birth rate.

Note: The birth rate and death rate balances the population of a country. When the balance of the population is disrupted it results in an increase and decrease in the population of the world.