
What are the three types of population pyramid?
There are three main types of population pyramids which are categorized based on shape: Expansive population pyramids are triangular and depict yo...
What are the 5 stages of a population pyramid?
Population pyramids go through five main stages: The high fluctuating stage occurs first where there is high birth and death rates and a large you...
What is an example of a population pyramid?
An example of a population pyramid would be a infographic which depicts the age groups within a population upon a vertical axis, while the populati...
What does a population pyramid tell us about?
Population pyramids always depict the statistics regarding age groups and sex within a population. The age groups are depicted on the vertical axis...
What is population pyramid?
A population pyramid is a graphical and representative tool used to depict and analyze populations of people, and display the two main characterist...
What is age sex pyramid?
An age-sex pyramid breaks down a country's or location's population into male and female genders and age ranges. Usually, you'll find the left side of the pyramid graphing the male population and the right side of the pyramid displaying the female population. Along the horizontal axis (x-axis) of a population pyramid, ...
What does the x axis represent in a population pyramid?
Along the horizontal axis (x-axis) of a population pyramid, the graph displays the population number. It can represent a total population of that age—the total number of males/females who are of a certain age. Or, the number can stand for a percentage of the population at that age—how many percent of the entire population are of a certain age.
What is the most important demographic characteristic of a population?
Updated December 12, 2019. The most important demographic characteristic of a population is its age-sex structure —the distribution of people's age and sex in a specific region. Age-sex pyramids (also known as population pyramids) graphically display this information to improve understanding and make comparison easy.
How to read age sex graph?
How to Read an Age-Sex Graph. An age-sex pyramid breaks down a country's or location's population into male and female genders and age ranges. Usually, you'll find the left side of the pyramid graph ing the male population and the right side of the pyramid displaying the female population. Along the horizontal axis (x-axis) of a population pyramid, ...
What does it mean when the bars of a graph are at the bottom of the pyramid?
Generally, when a population is growing steadily, the longest bars of the graph will appear at the bottom of the pyramid and will generally decrease in length as the top of the pyramid is reached. This indicates a large population of infants and children, which declines toward the top of the pyramid due to the death rate.
How many people will be over 65 in Japan by 2060?
As Japan's age-sex pyramid shows, the country has a huge number of elderly and middle-aged adults. About 40 percent of Japan's population is expected to be over 65 by 2060, and the country is experiencing a dearth (or scarcity) in the number of babies and children.
What does a graph look like?
Some Graphs Actually Look Like a Pyramid. Generally, when a population is growing steadily, the longest bars of the graph will appear at the bottom of the pyramid and will generally decrease in length as the top of the pyramid is reached.
What is a population pyramid?
Population Pyramids. A population pyramid graphically illustrates the age and gender distribution of a given population. The shape of the pyramid conveys details about life expectancy, birth, fertility, and mortality rates. Additional data that can be extrapolated from a population pyramid include the effects of historical events, ...
What is the shape of a pyramid?
The shape of the pyramid conveys details about life expectancy, birth, fertility, and mortality rates. Additional data that can be extrapolated from a population pyramid include the effects of historical events, economic development, and future demographic trends. This information helps direct plans for the subsequent social and economic needs ...
What does a kink in the pyramid mean?
Kinks or indents in the pyramid: indicate decline in birth rates or increase in death rates (e.g., wars, famine, disease) Bulges in the pyramid: indicate increase in birth rates (e.g., baby booms) Information about sex ratio of a population and effects of migration. Data on future growth of the population:
How do birth and death rates change?
The birth and death rates change through different stages in the model. As the population experiences prosperity and modernization, both birth and mortality rates fall. At stage 4, the population is stable but the growth rate is declining. Stage 5 is noted in a few nations, but is yet to be seen in most countries.
What is the shape of an age pyramid?
You might know the three basic shapes of age structures (popularly referred to as population pyramids) and what they mean. But let’s review: An actual “pyramid” shape age structure – a graph with a wide base and narrow top – is said to be expanding. This triangular shape reflects a growing, or expanding, population.
How does population growth occur?
Population growth occurs when the segment of the population currently in its childbearing years has produced a generation larger than itself. A triangular shaped graph like Ethiopia’s has a wide base that is in fact larger (meaning wider) than the generation that produced it. In Ethiopia, people aged 0-14 (pre-reproductive years) make up 43% of the population; people aged 15-29 (lower reproductive years) make up 28% of the population; and people aged 30-44 (upper reproductive years) make up 16% of the population. Additionally, as the children in the pre-reproductive grouping grow up, enter their reproductive years, and start having children of their own, there is even more potential for future population growth.
What percentage of the population is 0-14?
People aged 30-44 (upper reproductive years) make up 19% of the population; people aged 15-29 (lower reproductive years) make up 15% of the population; and people aged 0-14 (pre-reproductive years) make up just 13% of the population.
What percentage of people are in their post reproductive years in Japan?
Japan’s age-sex structure tells a different story. Over 50 percent of people ( 53.5% to be exact) are in their post-reproductive years. And what’s even more telling is that the bars representing people in their pre-reproductive years are smaller (narrower) than those of people in their reproductive years. People aged 30-44 (upper reproductive years) make up 19% of the population; people aged 15-29 (lower reproductive years) make up 15% of the population; and people aged 0-14 (pre-reproductive years) make up just 13% of the population. The generations in their reproductive years have produced a generation smaller than themselves and the population will shrink. The inverted triangle shape shows all of this with its wide top and much narrower base.
What is population pyramid?
A population pyramid tells us how many dependants there are. There are two groups of dependants; young dependants (aged below 15) and elderly dependants (aged over 65). Dependants rely upon the economically active for economic support.
What does the shape of a population pyramid tell us?
The shape of a population pyramid can tell us a lot about an area's population. Usually pyramids are drawn with the % of male population on the left and % of female population on the right. It gives us information about birth and death rates as well as life expectancy. A population pyramid tells us how many dependants there are.
What is population structure?
Population structure means the 'make up' or composition of a population. Looking at the population structure of a place shows how the population is divided up between males and females of different age groups.
What does a pyramid tell us?
It gives us information about birth and death rates as well as life expectancy. A population pyramid tells us how many dependants there are .
Do LEDCs have young dependants?
Many LEDCs have a high number of young dependants, this means that the pyramid will have a wide base and the sides of the pyramid will decrease as fewer people will reach old age. However, many MEDCs have a growing number of elderly dependants, this will be shown by the pyramid having straight sides or a barrel shape.
What is the pyramid of population?
Population pyramids visualize the demographic structure of a population. The width represents the size of the population of a given age; women on the right and men to the left. The bottom layer represents the number of newborns and above it you find the numbers of older cohorts.
Which countries have a larger dependent population than working age populations?
The ratio is much higher across many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa: Niger and Mali, for example, have a larger dependent population than they have working-age populations.
What is the median age in the world?
The global median age has increased from 21.5 years in 1970 to over 30 years in 2019. The global population breakdown by age shows that a quarter (26%) are younger than 14 years, 8% are older than 65, while half of the world population is the working age bracket between 25 and 65.
How many people are on the planet in 2019?
In 1950 there were 2.5 billion people on the planet. Now in 2019, there are 7.7 billion. By the end of the century the UN expects a global population of 11.2 billion.
Why do lower income countries have a lower median age?
Lower-income countries tend to have a lower median age. This is because they have a ‘younger’ population overall: high fertility rates across these countries mean they have larger populations of young children and adolescents.
Is the youth dependency ratio high in Africa?
The youth dependency ratio is much lower across higher income countries since fertility rates tend to be much lower there.
What does 100% mean in statistics?
A value of 100% means that the number of dependents was exactly the same as the number of people in the working-age bracket. A higher number means there are more ‘dependents’ relative to the working-age population; a lower number means fewer.

Overview
Structure
A population pyramid often contains continuous stacked-histogram bars, making it a horizontal bar diagram. The population size is shown on the x-axis (horizontal) while the age-groups are represented on the y-axis (vertical). The size of each bar can be displayed either as a percentageof the total population or as a raw number. Males are conventionally shown on the left and females on the right. Population pyramids are often viewed as the most effective way to graphically depi…
Types
Each country will have a different population pyramid. However, population pyramids can be categorised into three types: stationary, expansive, or constrictive. These types have been identified by the fertility and mortality rates of a country.
"Stationary" pyramid or constant population pyramid A pyramid can be described as stationary if the percentages of population (age and sex) remain approximately constant over time. In a stati…
Youth bulge
Gary Fuller (1995) described a youth bulge as a type of expansive pyramid. Gunnar Heinsohn (2003) argues that an excess in especially young adult male population predictably leads to social unrest, war and terrorism, as the "third and fourth sons" that find no prestigious positions in their existing societies rationalize their impetus to compete by religion or political ideology.
See also
• Age class structure
• Baby boom
• Demographic analysis
• Demographic transition
• List of countries by median age
External links
• World Population Prospects, the 2010 Revision, Website of the United Nations Population Division with population pyramids for all countries
• U.S. Census Bureau, International Statistical Agencies
• U.S. Census Bureau, International Database (IDB)