The demographic transition model describes how the population of a country changes over time. It gives changes in birth rates and death rates, and shows that countries pass through five different stages of population change (Stage one – High fluctuation, Stage two – Early expanding, Stage three – Late expanding, Stage four – Low fluctuating and Stage five – Decline)
The demographic transition model has both strengths and weaknesses for example some strengths would include that the demographic transition model is a universal concept, therefore being able to be applied to every country in the world,
Another strength would be that the model shows a change over time and can be seen as a predictor, with the expectation that every country
Furthermore the timescale of the model assumes that a country will have equal time in each stage however the timescale is now generally being squashed as newly industrialised countries continue to industrialize especially in several South-East Asian countries such as Hong Kong and Malaysia, is being squashed as they develop at a much faster rate than earlier industrialised countries. The UK stayed in stage 2 for over 100 years as social, economic and technological changes were introduced slowly and death rate fell slowly. In many LEDCs, death rate has fallen more rapidly because changes (i.e. the introduction of western medicine) have taken place much more quickly. The birth rate has stayed high and so the population has increased rapidly.
The demographic transition model has both strengths and weaknesses, it can be applied to any country in the world as it is a universal concept however being a Eurocentric based model it is less likely or more hard to be applied to those countries outside of Europe. The model can help to suggest what will happen to a country in terms of population and in terms of development however it cannot suggest how long a country will take to pass through each stage as each country is an individual.
The demographic transition model describes how the population of a country changes over time. It gives changes in birth rates and death rates, and shows that countries pass through five different stages of population