
Zero population growth
Zero population growth, sometimes abbreviated ZPG (also called the replacement level of fertility), is a condition of demographic balance where the number of people in a specified population neither grows nor declines, considered as a social aim by some.
What country has a zero population growth?
What Country Has A Zero Population Growth? Countries having a population growth rate of zero Slovenia, Spain, Italy, Greece, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovakia, Belarus, Monaco, Estonia, Finland, Denmark, and Taiwan were among the nations with growth rates that were within one tenth of zero: To view the complete response, please click here.
What does it mean to have zero population growth?
Zero population growth, sometimes abbreviated ZPG (also called the replacement level of fertility), is a condition of demographic balance where the number of people in a specified population neither grows nor declines, considered as a social aim by some.
Is it bad to have zero population growth?
People create and innovate, designing technologies and systems that have increased overall quality of life since 1968, even as the global population doubled. Other critics of zero population growth believe that low birth rates are bad for the economy.
What does Zero Population Growth (ZPG) really mean?
Zero population growth, sometimes abbreviated ZPG (also called the replacement level of fertility), is a condition of demographic balance where the number of people in a specified population neither grows nor declines, considered as a social aim by some. [by whom?] This is related to the optimum population theory, where a certain population is the ideal towards which countries and the whole ...

What is the benefit of having zero population growth?
Zero population growth is often a goal of demographic planners and environmentalists who believe that reducing population growth is essential for the health of the ecosystem. Preserving cultural traditions and ethnic diversity is a factor for not allowing human populations levels or rates to fall too low.
What would happen if the population growth reached zero?
Zero population growth refers to a population that is unchanging – it is neither growing, nor declining; the growth rate is zero. This demographic balance could occur when the birth rate and death rate are equal.
Is a low population growth rate good?
Slower population growth means that women on average are having fewer children, which gives girls and women the opportunity to pursue education and careers and continue a positive cycle of schooling, autonomy and equal status. Slower population growth will also place a higher value on immigration.
What country has a zero population growth?
Japan has a 0 percent natural birth increase and was expected to lose 21 percent of its population between 2006 and 2050 (shrinking from 127.8 million to a mere 100.6 million in 2050).
What city has 0 population?
Carbonate, Colorado. This ghost town is the smallest town in America—with a population of zero.
Why is it good to have a low population?
Slower population growth increases economic opportunities for women and minority groups, and exerts upward pressures on wages, especially for unskilled labor. For a given rate of capital investment, slower population growth also raises capital per person, raising productivity.
How does low population growth affect the economy?
The possible impacts of a declining population that leads to permanent recession are: Decline in basic services and infrastructure. If the GDP of a community declines, there is less demand for basic services such as hotels, restaurants and shops. The employment in these sectors then suffers.
What are the advantages of low population?
Life Is Here: 10 Main Advantages Of Living In A Less Populated...Spend More Time With Nature. One of the main benefits of living in a less populated city is nature exposure. ... Lower Percentage Of Crimes. ... Cleaner Quality Of Air. ... More Intimacy. ... Less Temptation. ... Less Competition. ... Hassle-free Exercise. ... Lesser Disputes.More items...•
When was there a zero population growth?
The organization was founded in 1968 as Zero Population Growth by environmentalist and population control activist Paul Ehrlich directly following the publication of his controversial 1968 book, The Population Bomb....Population Connection (Zero Population Growth)Website:populationconnection.orgLatest Tax Filing:2020 Form 9906 more rows
What is an example of zero population growth?
Birth rate defines as the number of births per 1,000 people per year, while death rate defines as the number of deaths per 1,000 people per year. So, for example, in a population there are 10 births and 10 deaths, then there would be zero population growth.
What country has zero population growth?
In 2014, Russia had zero population growth along with countries like Austria and Italy. While not all countries reach exactly zero growth, most cou...
What is the meaning of zero population growth?
Zero population growth means that the average number of children birthed per woman in a country, total fertility rate, and the number of people mig...
Is zero population growth a good thing?
Zero population growth is generally seen as a good thing in most countries. While population growth means there are more people to contribute to th...
How can a country achieve zero population growth?
Looking at the ever-expanding population of the world, you may wonder how a country can achieve zero population growth. Countries with low fertility rates tend to have lower population growth rates . Total fertility rate (TFR) refers to the average amount of children a woman has over her lifetime. The closer a country's TFR is to 2.1, called the replacement rate, the more likely that country is to have ZPG. This means that a country where the women have roughly two children on average will more likely have ZPG.
What Is Population Growth?
Population growth can be defined as the change in the amount of people in a location during a certain period of time. A positive population growth means that the number of people are increasing, while a negative population growth means that the number of people are decreasing.
Why is the population pyramid stationary?
The population pyramid, or graph that shows the age and sex breakdown in a certain location, for a country with ZPG is called stationary because the amount of people in each age group is fairly equal. To give some real-world examples, Austria and Russia both had zero population growth in 2014.
What does "no net change" mean?
No net change means that the number of people born equals the number of people who have died. Thus, zero population growth occurs when birth and death rates are equal. Birth rate refers to the amount of births per 1,000 people per year, while death rate refers to the amount of deaths per 1,000 people per year.
Why are developed countries more likely to have lower growth rates?
Developed countries are more likely to have lower growth rates due to the availability of birth control, family planning, and medical care, which means less babies will be born and these babies are more likely to live to adulthood.
Which countries are considered developed?
Developed, or first world, describes countries that are industrialized and have higher standards of living, such as the United States, Canada, Australia, France, and Germany.
Why is zero population growth important?
Zero population growth is often a goal of demographic planners and environmentalists who believe that reducing population growth is essential for the health of the ecosystem. Preserving cultural traditions and ethnic diversity is a factor for not allowing human populations levels or rates to fall too low.
What is zero population growth?
Zero population growth, sometimes abbreviated ZPG (also called the replacement level of fertility ), is a condition of demographic balance where the number of people in a specified population neither grows nor declines, considered as a social aim by some . This is related to the optimum population theory, where a certain population is ...
Why is it so hard to achieve ZPG?
Achieving ZPG is difficult because a country's population growth is often determined by economic factors, incidence of poverty, natural disasters, disease, etc. However, even if there is zero population growth, there may be changes in demographics of great importance to economic factors, such as changes in age distribution .
What is the effect of population growth on the long term?
Effects. In the long term, zero population growth can be achieved when the birth rate of a population equals the death rate, i.e. fertility is at replacement level and birth and death rates are stable, a condition also called demographic equilibrium. Unstable rates can lead to drastic changes in population levels.
What is the definition of a demographic transition?
Demographic transition —Zero population growth is achieved when the birth rate of a population equals in a situation where net migration is also zero
How to achieve ZPG?
Albert Bartlett, an emeritus professor of physics at University of Colorado at Boulder in his lifetime, suggested that a population has the following choices to achieve ZPG: 1 Voluntarily limit births and immigration to achieve zero population growth; 2 Continue on the present path until the population is so large that draconian measures become necessary to stop the growth of population; 3 Do nothing and let nature stop the growth through disease, starvation, war, and pestilence. If humans do not solve the problem, nature will.
Which country has the highest population?
China is the largest country by population in the world, having some 1.4 billion people. China is expected to have a zero population growth rate by 2030. China 's population growth has slowed since the beginning of this century.
What is a ZPG?
Zero population growth (ZPG) is a basic demographic term that is important for students to understand during a population unit.
Which countries are at or near ZPG?
There are several countries around the world that are at or near ZPG, including Iceland, Germany, Portugal, and Poland. The population stabilization that accompanies ZPG is often seen as a critical component to long-term sustainability for a country, region, or the world. Back to blog.
Does ZPG account for immigration?
But be careful, because this is not always the case. ZPG also accounts for immigration (when a person migrates to a country) and emigration (when a person leaves their country to settle somewhere new).
Why is Japan trying to build more robots?
Japan is trying to build more robots to replace workers. Robots can do work but they don’t consume anything. Poorer countries currently have growing populations, but as they develop, populations shrink. Many from these countries will migrate to developed countries to replace their shrinking workforce.
When will the elderly outnumber children?
The elderly will outnumber children by 2035. The tipping point in convincing the world that ZPG is of utmost importance was in 1968 with the publication of The Population Bomb. Paul Ehrlich was an entomologist at Stanford University, who studied the relationship between plants and butterflies.
Is famine increasing?
In fact, famine has not been increasing but has become rarer. When The Population Bomb appeared, according to the U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization, something like one out of four people in the world was hungry. Today the proportion of hungry is about one out of ten.
What are the benefits of slower population growth?
None the less, the benefits of slower population growth – a healthier planet, stronger economies, and greater human rights – show that we are on the correct course. As population demographics change , governments will adjust policies and systems to better address the important needs of their citizens. And that may be challenging at times, we are all able to prosper when the number of people on the planet steadies.
What will happen if we curtail population growth?
If we begin to curtail population growth to a level that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, economies all over the world will benefit . Sustaining current levels of GDP is not the only economic factor that could benefit from slower population growth.
How does slowing down the population affect human rights?
Possibly the most impactful aspect of slower population growth will be the positive effect it has on human rights around the world. Slower population growth should lead to higher levels of gender equality. In many places throughout the world, women lack the opportunities that their male counterparts have to receive a quality education and join the workforce. Many cultures expect women to stay in the home and take care of children. These antiquated traditions exclude women from pursuing their own careers and making decisions about their lives. Slower population growth means that women on average are having fewer children, which gives girls and women the opportunity to pursue education and careers and continue a positive cycle of schooling, autonomy and equal status.
What is the impact of fewer humans on the environment?
With fewer humans, the anthropogenic impact on the environment could stabilize below the 1.5°C benchmark that experts warn could be the point of no return. We may never fully recover from the damage that we have inflicted on the environment, which started during the first real population boom of western industrialization, but lower population growth will lead to a healthier planet for future generations.
Why is immigration important?
Immigration will continue – despite slower population growth – as more people seek refuge from war, famine, and climate-related hardships. If unemployment continues to fall, developed countries will seek to take in more immigrants and refugees to bolster their economies. Placing a higher value on immigrants will improve the lives of billions seeking a safer life, as well as the countries that need more labor to fill their workforces.
What would happen if automation did not have the impact that experts predict on the job market?
Even if automation does not have the impact that experts predict on the job market, a smaller population would still lower unemployment rates and lead to higher wages and salaries for workers in all industries.
What was the population growth rate in 1999?
Similar U.N. reports from 1999 displayed a growth rate of 1.3%, which was down from its 1960s peak of just over 2%. These numbers show that population growth is slowing, and that’s a good thing.

Overview
Effects
In the long term, zero population growth can be achieved when the birth rate of a population equals the death rate, that is, the total fertility rate is at replacement level and birth and death rates are stable, a condition also called demographic equilibrium. Unstable rates can lead to drastic changes in population levels. This analysis is valid for the planet as a whole (assuming that interplanetary travel remains at zero or negligible levels), but not necessarily for a region or coun…
Definition
The growth rate of a population in a given year equals the number of births minus the number of deaths plus immigration minus emigration expressed as a percentage of the population at the beginning of the given year.
For example, suppose a country begins a year with one million people and during the year experiences one hundred thousand births, eighty thousand deaths, one thousand immigrants an…
History
The American sociologist and demographer Kingsley Davis is credited with coining the term but it was used earlier by George J. Stolnitz, who stated that the concept of a stationary population dated back to 1693. A mathematical description was given by James Mirrlees.
In the late 1960s, ZPG became a prominent political movement in the U.S. and parts of Europe, with strong links to environmentalism and feminism. Yale University was a stronghold of the ZPG …
Reaching zero population growth
Albert Bartlett, who was a professor of physics at the University of Colorado at Boulder, suggested that a population has the following choices to achieve ZPG:
1. Voluntarily limit births and immigration to achieve zero population growth;
2. Continue on the present path until the population is so large that draconian measures become necessary to stop the growth of population;
In China
China is the largest country by population in the world, having some 1.4 billion people (as of 2021). China is expected to have a zero population growth rate by 2031.
China's population growth has slowed since the beginning of this century. This has been mostly the result of China's economic growth and increasing living standards. However, many demographers also credit China's family planning policy, formulated in the early 1970s, that enco…
See also
• Demographic transition
• List of population concern organizations
• Overpopulation
• Human population planning
Further reading
• "Human population numbers as a function of food supply" (PDF). Russel Hopfenburg, David Pimentel, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA;2Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA.