Problem
Underpopulation
Other Names:
Declining national populationPopulation decrease
Increasing death rate
Falling population
Decline in population
Nature:
A number of countries and communities do not have large enough a population to survive. In some cases this is due to birthrates being below 2.1 children per woman of childbearing age, the acceptable figure for sustained reproduction of a population. In other cases, a net out migration has caused the underpopulation.
Incidence:
In Russia in the 1990's, the birth rate declined to 1.3 births per woman while the life expectancy of men fell to 57 years, which last has been blamed partly on rising alcoholism.
Deaths per year in the early 1990's exceeded births by 800,000, so the population has fallen in absence of war, famine or epidemic disease.
Despite rapid population growth, Africa remains under-populated: its population density of 249 per 1,000 hectares is low compared to the world average of 442 or the 1,130 found in Asia (WRI, UNEP, UNDP and WB 1998).
Broader Problems:
ShortageIneffective population control Narrower Problems:
Declining life span Related Problems:
Unequal regional distribution of deaths Reduced By:
Forced motherhoodUnsustainable population levels
Strategies:
Documenting population trendsPolygamyIncreasing populationIncreasing national populationDecreasing population Subject(s):
Life → Life Sociology → Demography
Sociology → Population
Related UN Sustainable Development Goals:
Problem Type:
D: Detailed problems Date of last update
15.05.2019 – 21:21 CEST