The use of growth rates by age to identify the main stages of the demographic transition in Brazil

Abstract

The analysis of the set of age specific growth rates in a population, proposed by Horiuchi and Preston (1988), is an alternative way to examine the process of changing age structure as well as to examine potential “marks” left by the demographic history of each cohort. The objective of this study is to apply this methodology to the Brazilian population and discuss some of the major demographic changes on the basis of growth rates seen in Brazil since the 1970s. Based on patterns of specific growth rates simulated by these authors to describe the structure of specific growth rates for each type of demographic changes, we evaluate possible stages in the country’s demographic history that may be present in the current cohorts. The results show that the information contained in specific growth rates are quite instructive regarding the effects of variations in demographic regimes and is very useful for populations where vital rates are unreliable or unavailable.