Population growth is to be studied for various purposes like planning water supply scheme, distribution of national resources, development of town/city, and so on. Factors affecting population growth can help in estimating the future population.
Before diving into population growth, let us first see what population data is and how it is calculated in different countries.
Population Data
Population data includes the count of total population at a certain time or time range.
Present population data can be known from the ‘census’. The census is carried out by the government bodies of every country at the end of a fixed period.
Census is carried out by Government of India at the end of every 10 years.
In United States of America, census is carried out United States Bureau at the end of every 10 years. This data is mandated by Article I, Section 2 of the American Constitution. [ref] The last US census data was released on 1st April, 2020 in which the most populated state was California and total population was 331,449,281.
In India, census is carried out by the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India at the end of every 10 years. The last census (15th census) was carried out in 2011.
(Census 2021 has not been conducted in India due to COVID-19. The administrative boundaries had been freezed until 30th June 2023. Again, in 2024, general elections are to be taken place. Hence, census can only happen in late 2024.)
Population Growth
Population keeps on rising. Therefore, population growth is measured.
Factors Affecting Population Growth
As the future population is to be predicted for various planning and development purposes, it is essential to know factors affecting population growth.
Factors affecting population growth are listed below:
- Birth rate
- Death rate
- Migration rate
1. Birth Rate
Increase or decrease in birth rate affects population growth to great extent. To control population growth, birth rate should be decreased.
Decreased birth rate may be resulted by:
- Excessive family planning
- Legalized abortions throughout the country
- Propagating education and awareness amongst people
2. Death Rate
In recent times, death rate has decreased considerably with the advancement in technology. This has significantly contributed to population growth.
Decreased growth rate is due to:
- Advanced medical technologies
- Reduction in infant mortality rate
- Reduced death rate of adults
- Control of infection & diseases in the country
3. Migration
People generally tend to migrate from villages to cities and towns where better livelihood conditions are available as well as earning opportunities. Hence, development in commercial and industrial sector increases the migration rate.
Immigration restrictions can decrease migration rate.
Migration rate is affected by:
- Development programs
- Economic factors
- Social facilities’ development like schools, colleges, hospitals, parks, etc.
- Communication links of the city to other cities (for ease in transport)
- Tourism
- Community life
- Unforeseen factors like earthquakes, floods, pandemic, wars, etc
These factors affecting population growth makes the population forecasting challenging. It raises the difficulty in accurately predicting the population. Hence, empirical mathematical formulae and graphical methods of population forecasting are adopted.
Summary
Population data is collected by census. Decennial census is adopted in India and the US, i.e., census is carried out at the end of 10 years.
| Country | Last Census |
| India | 2011 |
| The US | 2020 |
| 2021 Indian census is postponed till the end of 2024 owing to COVID and national elections. | |
Major Factors Affecting Population Growth that help in population forecasting:
- Birth rate
- Death rate
- Migration rate
What is population data?
Population data includes the count of total population at a certain time or time range.