What does demography mean?
Demography is the systematic, statistical study of human populations — their size, composition, distribution, and the forces that change them, namely fertility, mortality, and migration. Practised by demographers using censuses, surveys, and civil registration records, it underpins everything from election forecasting to pension planning and public-health strategy. The word derives from Greek roots meaning 'people' and 'writing', and entered scholarly use in the nineteenth century as nations began counting their citizens methodically. Though primarily an uncountable noun naming the discipline, 'demography' is also used loosely to mean the demographic profile of a place or market, as in headlines like 'shifting demography reshapes the electorate.' Its adjective form, 'demographic', appears constantly in phrases such as 'demographic dividend'. Precise, neutral, and analytical in register, demography carries no emotional connotation, but its findings are often politically charged, because who is born, where, and when shapes societies for generations.
nounThe statistical study of human populations, especially their size, growth, density, distribution, and vital statistics such as births, deaths, and migration.
- The scientific study of human populations, including their size, structure, and how they change through births, deaths, and migration.
- The demographic statistics or characteristics of a particular population or group (a looser, informal extension).
"Demography suggests that the country's workforce will shrink sharply over the next two decades."
"Advances in demography allowed planners to anticipate the postwar baby boom's effect on schools."
"Her work in historical demography reconstructed family life in seventeenth-century villages from parish records."
Rarely used in the plural; occasionally seen in academic writing to refer to the distinct population structures of different groups or regions, e.g. 'comparative demographies'.
"The study compared the demographies of urban and rural districts over fifty years."
Coined in the 1800s from Greek roots meaning 'writing about the people,' demography can predict a nation's future decades before it happens — because every pensioner of 2050 has already been born.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of demography
Demography was coined in the nineteenth century from the Greek words dēmos ('the people') and graphein ('to write'), literally 'description of the people.' The French scholar Achille Guillard popularized the term in his 1855 work on population statistics, and it spread into English shortly thereafter. It shares its dēmos root with words such as 'democracy', 'epidemic', and 'endemic', all of which concern the people or populations in some way.
Related word forms
How demography is actually used
Demography is a formal, academic term used mainly in social science, economics, public policy, and journalism about population trends. It is an uncountable noun and is rarely used in casual conversation, where 'population trends' or 'demographics' would be more natural.
Easily confused with demography
Demography is the academic study of populations, while demographics refers to the statistical characteristics themselves (such as age, income, or ethnicity) of a group.