The birth rate is the number of births that occurs in any geographic entity during a specified period, usually one (1) year. For comparative purposes, the concept of birth rate or index is used, which can be defined as the measure that is established between the births registered at a certain time per thousand inhabitants in relation to the total population, and is expressed as a percentage. or so much per thousand.
What is the Birth Rate
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Birth rate is the annual average of births in a region per thousand (1000) inhabitants, through it the growth of a nation can be determined. When making the calculations of this rate, a series of very important factors must be taken into account: the physical space and the period in which they will be carried out, in addition to the cultural, socioeconomic, religious, nutritional, educational and educational conditions. the areas that are more culturally advanced, these influence the evolution of this rate.
The number of births and the birth rate vary both in space and in time; that is, they may vary according to the countries or regions and also according to the times. Commonly, many countries have more registered births in these current years compared to 50 years ago.
Birth rates are often very high in the countries of the " Third World ", where underdevelopment favors the creation of large families as cultural and religious habits, lack of contraception, and some need more members in the family to be able to survive. While the rates are very low in industrialized countries, thanks to the effects of better sex education, family planning campaigns, the use of time that is more concentrated on work and study, maintaining a balance between personal life and professional.
On the other hand, there is birth control, which is put into practice in certain countries, which want to slow down their demographic growth when it is out of proportion to their economic resources; for example, China. It is an initiative that belongs to the state and consists of educating the population, since excessive growth constitutes a major problem for the nation's subsistence.
In some underdeveloped countries there is no birth control for political, ideological or cultural reasons, so the population continues to grow explosively, doubling in less than twenty years; in some Arab countries, population growth is even being encouraged. However, in most underdeveloped countries, birth control campaigns are succeeding in reducing fertility rates.
The birth rate in a population may have drawbacks when trying to compare one nation with another, because each country has structural differences more in terms of age and sex than the analysis that can be performed on the fertility of the analyzed population.. In this sense, it is recommended to use more refined rates such as the global fertilization rate and the fertilization structure by age.
Ecological Birth
Ecological natality is the increase in population, that is, it refers to the reproduction of the population and the percentages in the increase of its inhabitants in a given space. This may vary according to age and physical environmental conditions.
From the ecological point of view, the population is the group of people all of the same species and inhabit a certain place and time.
Analysis of the World Birth Rate
According to data provided by the United Nations (UN), since the middle of the last century, the population has not stopped growing, it has almost tripled worldwide and there is fear of overpopulation. However, there are demographic mechanisms that can show that this extrapolation is not entirely true.
A birth rate is considered positive when it exceeds the mortality rate, according to UN data, the statistics between the years 2010 to 2015 are about 20 births and eight deaths per 1000 people, which means that the population grows 12 people per every 1000 annually, that is, a 1.2%
vegetative growth rate.
Birth rate in Latin America
The document published by the UN on October 17, 2018 and called "The power to decide: reproductive rights and demographic transitions", where it is revealed that women are free to control their own reproduction.
In Latin America, the average says that there is a very low birth rate among their countries. The key figure when it comes to demographic replacement birth rates is 2.2 children per woman. In this area, the average among their countries indicates that it is low, because the index is 2.06 children per woman and this figure is not enough to achieve the replacement rate.
Births in Mexico: in this country births have decreased compared to those that occurred in the last years of the 20th century. Between 2010 and 2016, the birth rate in Mexico fell from 19.71% to 18.17%. Despite this, the population pyramid of this country remains stable, since, for this to happen, it is necessary for each woman to have at least 2.1 children and thus achieve replacement fertility.
Birth rate in Europe
Statistics indicate that no country in the European Union has a minimum replacement fertility rate of 2.1. In general, European women have their first child between 29 and 30 years of age, while in the south of the continent they can wait until the age of 40. Difficulties in obtaining housing is one of the causes by which years of fertility are lost, in addition to gender inequality, between men and women. According to experts in countries where men do more housework, fertility is higher.
Natality in Asia
Asian countries have the lowest level low of population growth in the world. The birth rate has dropped to 1.1% according to the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific. According to statistics, each woman has 2.4 children, compared to 2.9 children five years ago. The countries where its population has begun to decline significantly are China, Thailand and Russia.
Natality in Oceania
In 2016, the birth rate in Australia was 12.5%, when compared with those in 2015 of 12.8% and 2006 of 12.9%, a notable decrease in the birth rates is appreciated. Fertility is less than 2.1 per woman, indicating that it does not guarantee replacement fertility.
Births in Developed and Underdeveloped Countries
In developed countries the birth rate is very low, fertility is 1.5 children for each woman, for this reason they do not meet the established figures for replacement fertility.
According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), developed countries have now slowed their population growth. In some countries there are no explicit policies around birth control. There is only one family planning assistance in the United States. Australia, despite expressing its concern about population growth, does nothing about it and in Canada there is no birth control. These countries are very strict on birth control and respect basic reproductive rights; In addition, they face an older population, high health care costs, and a greatly reduced workforce.
Education and university careers are part of the priorities of women in developed countries, for this reason, they avoid becoming pregnant, in addition to spacing pregnancies until after 35 to 40 years of age, carrying this risk of infertility and complications in deliveries.
In underdeveloped countries the birth rate is very high, fertility can reach up to 8 children per woman, this has its origin in the influence of several factors such as:
- Religion, the church in many territories does not agree with the use of contraceptive methods.
- There are cultures that admire women more, depending on the number of children they have.
- These countries are so poor that they do not have budgets for campaigning or awareness of good family planning.
In Latin America, which includes South America, Central America and the Caribbean, the growth of pregnancy among adolescents is overwhelming, according to a report presented by the Ibero-American Youth Organization (OIJ), for every 1000 pregnancies registered in these countries, 73.1 are of young people between 15 and 19 years of age. With a world birth rate of 48.6 adolescents per 1,000 pregnancies, these statistics triple the European rate of 28.9 per 1,000.
Natality vs Mortality
The countries that present a very high birth rate in their indicators, generally have a low level of economic development, contrary to those with low birth rates; These are developed countries, but due to low birth rates, their population tends to be aging.
China, after its policy of one child per couple, applied since 1979 to control population growth, has become an aging nation. Forecasts indicate that by 2030 a quarter of the population will be 60 years old, no longer having replacement fertility. As of 2016, the government has allowed married couples to have two children, but according to figures issued by the National Health Commission, only 17.58 million babies were born in 2017, while there are 241 million people over 60 years of age. age.
The death rate is calculated by establishing the number of deaths in a country for every 1000 inhabitants in a given period, generally one year. This can also be calculated, according to age and by social group.
In general, underdeveloped countries have a higher mortality rate, unlike developed countries, in these countries it is lower. These statistics are negatively related to the individual's life expectancy at birth, that is, the more life expectancy at birth, the lower the mortality rate in a population.
Relationship between Birth and Fertility
The concept of birth and fertility are totally different, but can often be confused. The birth rate indicates the number of births per thousand people in a given population and this determines the crude birth rate. Fertility also calculates the number of births in a population, but related to the number of women of childbearing age, that is, the number of births in a given region are grouped for every thousand women of childbearing age between 15 and 49 years of age. age, this calculation is called the General Fertility Rate.
For this reason, the concept of birth and fertility are closely related.
