CHAPTER 9

Global Demography

Intended Learning Outcomes:

At the end of this lesson, learners must be able to:
1. Have a better understanding of the demographic patterns of the world;
2. Know how global demography affects the other aspects of our living in the current world;
3. Make the necessary correlations between Global Demography and Globalization;
4. Be able to suggest solutions to the current concerns affecting Global Demography; and
5. Equip the students with 21st century learning and develop higher order thinking skills that will
lead towards a deeper understanding of Global Demography in the attempt to successfully
correlate this concept in the case of the Philippines.

A. Globalization, Population, and Life Expectancy

 Demography – represents the study of statistics such as births, deaths, income, or the incidence
of disease, which illustrate the changing structure of human populations and thus poses an
effect on globalization on a holistic level.
 In general, demography pertains to the composition of a particular human population.
 The current world population is 7.2 billion, and this number is projected to increase by 1 billion
over the next 12 years and will reach 9.6 billion by 2050.
 Our global population, which stood at just over 2 billion in 1950, is currently gaining new
inhabitants at a rate of 76 million people per year.
 Population changes have potentially huge implications for the pace and progress of economic
development.
 For example, an increasing proportion of elderly may act as a drag on economic growth
where smaller working populations must provide for a larger number of non-working
dependents.
 In situations where there exists both an aging population on one end and a highly
dependent one on the other, a country’s economy must prove to have a solid working
median age to sustain its growth.
 In addition, rising life expectancy can also bolster an economy by creating a greater incentive to
save and to invest in education, thereby boosting the financial capital on which investors draw
and the human capital that strengthens economies.
 The Global Life Expectancy or the average expected living age of individuals has steadily
increased.
 For the world as whole, life expectancy increased from 47 years in 1950-1955 to 65
years in 2000-2005.
 In 2016, the World Health Organization reported that 72 years was the average life
expectancy of the global population.
B. Demographic Change and Its Economic Impact
 Demographic change is consequential with respect to economic and social development.
 The economic consequences of population growth, in particular, have long been the subject of
debate.
1. Population Pessimism
 It was first believed that population growth would lead to the exhaustion of resources.
 Population pessimists argued that the world’s resources would be unable to keep pace
with population growth. Food production would expand more slowly than population,
and many would lose out in the competition for food.
2. Population Optimism
 But a view contrary to population pessimism was proposed.
 Population optimists argued that population growth aided economic development by
spurring technological and institutional innovation and by increasing the supply of
human ingenuity.
 Researchers believing in population optimism presented compelling historical evidence
of the pressure that population growth puts on societies to create new solutions in the
face of resource constraints. They argue that population increase can lead to better
opportunities for economic growth and mobility.
 For example: The “Green Revolution”, where new high-yield crops dramatically
increased food production in much of the developing world, occurred in part as a
response to population growth.
3. Population Neutralism
 Advocates of Population Neutralism, on the other hand, argued that population growth
by itself has no effect on economic performance. Other factors, such as openness of
trade, educational attainment and the quality of institutions, determine whether
economic progress can keep pace with population expansion.
 Favorable policies could help translate increases in population into greater wealth.

C. Essay: Which do you agree on, Population Pessimism, Population Optimism, or Population
Neutralism? Why? Choose one side only. Do not be neutral or indecisive. Be convincing in
presenting your argument/s why you chose that view. Maximum of 250 words only.