Births and deaths in a country are significant as the difference between the two decides the growth rate of the population. Every country has limited natural resources, and in places where infant mortality rate is high, parents produce more offspring in anticipation of some of their children not surviving. There are many other reasons for high birth rates in poor and developing countries. Overall, death rates are declining in most countries of the world leading to an increase in population. Knowing the difference between birth rate and death rate is necessary for the policy makers to design policies and welfare programs accordingly.
Birth Rate
As the name implies, the birth rate is the rate of births in a given place over a period of time. We know that the world birth rate at present is 19.15. This means that 19.15 people are taking birth every 1000 people around the world. As births do not look nice in decimals, it can be said that 1915 births are taking place every 100000 people around the world. Birth rates are important for countries where it is very high and also where birth rate is extremely low. Countries like India and China are struggling to keep their population under control as they have high birth rates. On the other hand, there are countries like Italy, Australia, New Zealand and some more that have negative growth rate of population because of low birth rate that is lower than the death rates in these countries. In such places, couples are encouraged with incentives, to produce more babies.
Death Rate
Death rate refers to number of deaths per thousand people in the population of a country over a period of time. It is also known as mortality rate, to reflect the fact of mortality of human beings. While death rates were quite high a few decades ago, number of deaths due to diseases and poor sanitation are decreasing in all parts of the world with advances in health care facilities and eradication of many endemics. When death rate in a country is less than the birth rate, it means that there is a positive growth rate of population, and it is increasing every year. Sometimes there is a high death rate in a country even though it may be a developed country. This happens when a sizeable section of the population in the country is of old age. Death rate of 16 or higher is considered to be too high these days. When death rate is in between 8 and 16, it is considered as normal. When death rate goes down below 8, it is believed to be too low.
What is the difference between Birth Rate and Death Rate?
• Births and deaths continue to take place at all places around the world. The difference between total births and total deaths in a population over a period of time decides whether the population growth of the place is positive or negative.
• If the birth rate is higher than the death rate in a country, it means that the population will register a growth. On the other hand, birth rate less than the death rate indicate a shrinking population.