Question

The difference between the birth rate and death rate is called __________.
a.Natural Growth Rate
b.Death Rate
c.Birth Rate
d.Fertility Rate

Answer 1

Hint: The difference between the birth rate and death rate is the parameter by which the population of a country or a region grows. This growth may be positive, negative or zero.

Complete Step by Step Answer: Demography is the systematic study of the human population. It also analyses and records the way populations evolve in different aspects- growth, composition, density, distribution etc. Population stability and change are determined by the "Big Three" of demography - Birth Rate, Death Rate and Migration. The difference between the crude death rate and crude birth rate of a country is equal to the rate of natural increase i.e. the Natural Growth Rate of population.
a.Natural Growth Rate: Natural Growth Rate is the difference of the Birth Rate and the Death Rate of a region. If the birth rate is higher, then the population is said to grow and if the death rate is higher, the population is said to shrink, i.e. show negative growth. So, it is the correct option.
b.Death Rate: Death rate or mortality rate is a demographic statistic, it is the standard of the number of deaths in a specific population, scaled to the size of that population. It is usually expressed in units of deaths per 1000 individuals every year. So, it is an incorrect option.
c.Birth Rate: The crude birth rate is a demographic statistic. It provides the total number of live births in a year per 1000 of population. So, it is an incorrect option.
d.Fertility Rate: Fertility rate refers to the number of live births per 1000 women (women of reproductive age) per year. This is a more accurate method to measure fertility rather than the crude birth rate. So, it is an incorrect option.

Note: An important point to be noted is that the birth rate is calculated based on the live births and not total births. Live births is the number of children born alive, i.e. live births are always less than total births.