Population pyramids
Population pyramids are bar charts that show how many people of different ages are living in a place or country.
Population pyramids show the bars arranged sideways, rather than upwards. The x-axis shows the number of people, the y-axis shows their ages. The bars on the left show the number of males and the bars on the right show the number of females.
A population pyramid for a developed country is usually bullet-shaped like the one below:
A population pyramid for a developing country is usually triangle-shaped like the one below:
When describing a population pyramid, you should include: -
- The width of the base of the pyramid: wide or narrow. This is called the birth rate and is generally the 0-4 age category.
- The width of the top of the pyramid: wide or narrow. This section is called the old dependents and tends to be age 70 and up.
- Life expectancy: high or low. Do people tend to make it to old age? Roughly aged 70 and above again.
- Describe the age category with the widest section and quote numbers for male/females or total in that age group
Question
Describe the population structure of either UK or India.
Hints
- is the birth rate wide, narrow or stable?
- is the death rate wide, narrow or stable?
- what part of the pyramid is the widest?
- quote figures and age groups
UK:
In the UK the birth rate is stable with approx. 3.9 million in the 0-4 category (approx. 2m male and 1.9m female).
The widest section of the pyramid is the 45-49 age group with approx. 2.5 males and 2.3 females (approx. 4.8m total).
People tend to live longer in the UK, with people living to old age. For example, 70-74 has approx. 2.55m people.
India:
India has a very wide birth rate, in fact the widest part of the pyramid, as shown in the 0-4 age category with approx. 62m males and approx. 55m females (117m total).
The pyramid tends to get narrower as it moves through the age categories.
Less people make it to older age so life expectancy is lower. This is shown in the 70-74 age category with approx. 26m total people in this age group which is much lower compared to other younger age categories.