Argentina’s Population Dynamics: Growth, Distribution, and Aging

Posted on Mar 14, 2025 in Geography

Argentina’s Population Dynamics

Slow population growth implies both an increase and a decline in population, comprised of natural growth and migration. If births outweigh deaths, growth will be positive. It is also influenced by the demographic character of the area. The volume and the rate at which crests occur are related to population changes in composition by age, sex, occupation, education, and origin. Argentina is a country of slow growth:

  1. Population growth gradually decreases.
  2. The low birth rate is due to fertility decline, by the progressive decrease in the number of children per woman at the end of reproductive life.
  3. The stagnation of mortality for the more elderly.
  4. Growth is virtually zero due to immigration.
  5. The emigration of Argentines.

Progressive development occurs because urban populations have a low birth rate compared to rural populations.

Birth Rate, Fertility, and Mortality

Birth is key to any society because it can generate changes in the demographic structure. In Argentina, the birth rate is declining. Argentina is a country ranked among the strongly pro-natalist, despite enacted birth control measures.

Fertility means the number of children that women have in their childbearing years. When speaking of a population with high fertility, it refers to the fact that most women of reproductive age have several children. The country is at the limit of generational replacement.

Mortality is an indicator directly related to the health of the population, but is affected by age structure. Argentina shows a slight decrease in mortality.

Population Distribution

The factors that explain the uneven distribution of the population are classified as:

  1. Physical: altitude, latitude, climate, proximity to the sea, water availability.
  2. Human: historical, political, and economic.

Some of these factors influenced the population favorably, and others unfavorably.

Population Structure

Population structure studies the characteristics of population change and size, growth, and distributions. There are populations with more children and young people, and others with older patients, with a high proportion of immigrants, etc. Births, deaths, and migration are called basic demographic components influencing population structures. There are indirect factors specific to the physical environment or of human actions that also act and change the population. Populations have different demographic, economic, and cultural factors that determine their composition.

Composition of the Population by Sex

Each area has an uneven distribution of men and women. This inequality has consequences for biological, social, economic, and cultural aspects. One way to measure the proportion of males and females in a population is to calculate the index of masculinity. Usually, more boys are born than girls.

The Age Composition

Age composition is used to determine the extent of aging or youth. The indices are intended to facilitate comparisons between countries, regions, provinces, counties, or municipalities. The population is distributed according to the following age groups:

  1. Young population: from 0 to 14 years.
  2. Adult population: 15 to 64 years.
  3. The elderly: 65 years and older.

You can work with three indices that are derived from a distribution of ages of the population, and an estimate on the basis of the 3 age groups.

Aging Population

The elderly, also called the elderly population, older adults, or people of the third age, represent a progress for which the proportion of older persons increases with respect to the total population. Causes:

  1. Reduction of mortality, increasing the number of people who reach the third age.
  2. Decrease in fertility, accompanied by a relative increase in the elderly group. This is called aging by the BOP.
  3. In developed countries, women have their children growing older, usually in smaller numbers.
  4. Migration can influence aging in 2 situations: rural migration of young workers in the field leaves a larger proportion of older people, or elderly migration is directed to places with a comfortable climate.

In 2001, the elderly represented 10% of Argentina’s population.

The urban population is aged more than the rural ones, given the lower urban fertility and the prevalence of women who have longer life expectancies.