Glossary:Population change
Population change, defined generally, is the difference in the size of a population between the end and the beginning of a given time period (usually one year). Specifically, it is the difference in population size on 1 January of two consecutive years.
Population change has two components:
- natural population change (the number of live births minus the number of deaths);
- net migration (the number of immigrants minus the number of emigrants, plus statistical adjustment – it should be noted that net migration as referred to in the context of population change statistics includes the statistical adjustments occurring in the annual balance of the population and that it serves the purpose of closing this balance).
A positive population change, when the result of net migration plus live births minus deaths is positive, is referred to as population growth, a negative one is called a population decrease.
The crude rate of population growth is the ratio of total population growth during the year to the average population of the area in question that year. The value is expressed per 1 000 inhabitants.
Further information
- Population (ESMS metadata file — demo_pop_esms)