A LevelEconomicsCambridge (CIE)Revision NotesInternational Economic IssuesCommon Characteristics of Economic Development (A Level)Population Growth & Structure

Population Growth & Structure (Cambridge (CIE) A Level Economics): Revision Note

Exam code: 9708

Written by: Steve Vorster

Reviewed by: Lisa Eades

Updated on 17 April 2026

Population distribution

The characteristics of a population (the distribution of age, sex, ethnicity, religion etc), is known as the population structure
The population structure is the result of changes in:
- the birth rate
- the death rate
- net migration

Natural population growth rate = birth rate minus death rate + net migration

Causes of changes in birth rate

The birth rate is defined as the number of live births per 1,000 of the population per year

Factor	Explanation	Impact
Income and development	Rising income and female education reduce desired family size	Decreases
Female labour force participation	Opportunity cost of childrearing rises as women's earning potential increases	Decreases
Access to contraception	Greater availability and use of family planning reduces unintended births	Decreases
Child mortality	As infant survival improves, families need fewer births to achieve desired family size	Decreases
Urbanisation	Urban living raises the cost of children relative to rural settings	Decreases
Cultural and religious norms	Pro-natalist cultures or government incentives can sustain high birth rates	Variable

Causes of changes in death rate

The death rate (crude death rate) is defined as the number of deaths per 1,000 of the population per year

Factor	Explanation	Impact
Healthcare quality and access	Better medical treatment reduces mortality from disease and injury	Decreases
Nutrition and food security	Improved diet reduces deaths from malnutrition and related illness	Decreases
Sanitation and clean water	Reduces deaths from waterborne diseases	Decreases
Income growth	Higher incomes allow spending on healthcare, nutrition and safe housing	Decreases
Ageing population	As a population ages, the crude death rate can rise even as life expectancy increases	Increases

Causes of changes in infant mortality

Infant mortality rate is defined as the number of deaths of children under one year of age per 1,000 live births per year
- It is a particularly sensitive indicator of healthcare quality, nutrition and sanitation
Infant mortality is primarily driven by the same factors as the crude death rate but is more sensitive to:
- the quality of maternal healthcare
- access to clean water and sanitation
- rates of malnutrition
- prevalence of preventable diseases such as diarrhoea, pneumonia and malaria
Infant mortality is typically much higher in low-income economies
- Sub-Saharan Africa averages above 50 deaths per 1,000 live births compared to under 5 in high-income economies

Causes of changes in net migration

Net migration is defined as the difference between immigration (inflows) and emigration (outflows) over a given period
- Positive net migration adds to population, negative net migration reduces it

Factor	Pull factors (immigration)	Push factors (emigration)
Economic	Higher wages, employment opportunities	Unemployment, low wages, poverty
Political	Stability, rule of law	Conflict, persecution, political instability
Social	Family reunification, education access	Lack of social services, discrimination
Environmental	Favourable climate and resources	Natural disasters, climate change, land degradation

Examiner Tips and Tricks

The most common error in this area is confusing the crude death rate with life expectancy - an ageing population can cause the crude death rate to rise even as life expectancy increases, because there are simply more elderly people.

Infant mortality is the single most sensitive indicator of healthcare quality and development level, and examiners reward students who use it as evidence rather than defaulting to GDP.

For net migration questions, always distinguish between economic, political and environmental push and pull factors rather than listing migration as a single undifferentiated cause of population change.

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