Demographic Investigation by Tiffany Zhao

Life expectancy

tiffanyzhao2_1 — 2025-04-26 21:15:05 UTC

The average longest someone is able to live for. Genetics, lifestyle, diet, and possible medical issues all impact your life expectancy. For these reasons, accessibility to healthcare in a country is especially important.

Birth rate

tiffanyzhao2_1 — 2025-04-26 21:15:11 UTC

How many children are born per a given amount of people in a specific time period. High birth rates lead to a rise in population, while low birth rates cause a decrease in population.

Dependency load

tiffanyzhao2_1 — 2025-04-26 21:15:16 UTC

The population of people who aren’t of working age, typically aged 0-14 and 65+. They rely on those who are of working age, from 15-64 years old. Dependency load is sorted into two categories, those of which are dependent youths and dependent seniors.

Canada

tiffanyzhao2_1 — 2025-04-26 21:15:20 UTC

McLean, J. (2024). Map of the 10 Canadian Provinces. [Photograph]. E Pluribus Anthony. Used on April 26, 2025, taken from https://www.tripsavvy.com/maps-of-canada-4056313

Guinea

tiffanyzhao2_1 — 2025-04-26 21:15:23 UTC

No author. (ND). Guinea map with capital Conakry. [Photograph]. Africaguide. Used on April 27, 2025, taken from https://www.africaguide.com/country/guinea/

Life Expectancy

tiffanyzhao2_1 — 2025-04-27 02:13:38 UTC

Canada has a reasonably high life expectancy of 84.2, since it is a well-developed country that provides access to healthcare, medicines, sanitation, and retirement homes. Guinea has a life expectancy of 64.2, which is slightly lower compared to Canada’s life expectancy. Out-of-date or poor healthcare could be the reason for this. Because Guinea has a high birth rate, it causes a population boost and results in many families to end up impoverished, and thus won’t live for a long time. Maternal labour also plays a part in this, as childbirth comes with risks, including death. Korea has a high life expectancy of 83.4. Similar to Canada, Korea is a developed country that has been actively taking actions to reduce poverty and enhance the economy. Living conditions such as education, healthcare, and technology have been improving in the last few years.

Birth Rate

tiffanyzhao2_1 — 2025-04-27 02:14:19 UTC

Canada is facing a slowly declining birth rate of 10 births per 1,000 population. This could be caused by many factors, though some possibilities may be that more and more people in recent years have wanted to focus on careers rather than kids, so they choose not to have kids, or that families with more than one child is less common in this generation. Alternatively, the economy in Canada is demanding, an example being the extremely high costs of living, which may lead to people not being financially stable enough to have children. Guinea has a birth rate that’s increasing rapidly, with a birth rate of 35.3 births per 1,000 population. Less education opportunities and job availability might contribute to this, or people in Guinea prefer to have big families. Korea’s birth rate is plummeting, and at its all-time low with a birth rate of 7 births per 1,000 population. There are many reasons behind this, such as the social hierarchy, gender disputes, and more. Women in Korea struggle to find men who are able to share the workload when having children.

Dependency Load

tiffanyzhao2_1 — 2025-04-27 02:14:46 UTC

Guinea has a dependent youth percentage of 40.8%, which is the highest compared to Canada, with 15.1%, and Korea, with 10.7%. This is because a good portion of the population in Guinea is clustered in the pre-reproductive age group (0-14) from the growing population. Korea has a dependent senior percentage of 19.3%, which is almost as much as the senior dependency percentage of Canada with 19.8%, while Guinea only has a percentage of 2.5%. Canada and Korea both have more population in the post-reproductive age group than Guinea. In Canada and Korea, from ages 65 and up, the percentage of the population starts from around 3%, and decreases as it nears the age of 100. However, in Guinea, the dependent senior percentage is so low due to the sparse population of this age category, as the population at each age interval above age 65 is below 1%.

Why do differences in life expectancy, birth rate, and dependency load exist between countries?

tiffanyzhao2_1 — 2025-04-27 02:19:22 UTC

Each country is at different phases of development, which would influence the birth rate, life expectancy, and dependency load. The more a country develops, the more the birth rates drop because of open slots in jobs, upgraded education systems, and a better economy, which puts families with many members at a disadvantage. Canada is considered to be in an advanced stage of demographic transition, which is why the birth rate is low, life expectancy is high, and the population is stable but could meet a potential decline. Guinea has a high birth rate, with a fastly growing population. The life expectancy in 2022 was 58.99, and is 64.2 as of 2024, meaning that it increased by 5.21 years. This suggests that it is in the beginning stages of demographic transition, seeing as an increase in life expectancy can be noticed in the early stages of industrialization. Korea is in the post-industrialization stages of development. The distribution of the population by age is mostly seen in the older people, as the aging population is greater than the population of children aged 14 and under. The low birth rate implies a major decrease in the population. Each country’s population patterns evidently differ from each other.

Why is it important or useful to look at this information now and in the future?

tiffanyzhao2_1 — 2025-04-27 02:20:08 UTC

Presently, this information is useful to the policy makers and demographers in order for them to be able to note the quality of life of the citizens by how the population is spread throughout different age intervals and through gender. Hence, they can accordingly accommodate the needs of the people. In the future, experts in this field can look back on the data from the past and observe the changes, deteriorations, improvements, and more. Identifying population patterns helps us understand the state of the economy and the social system. Aspects like birth rates, average life expectancy, and dependency load affects everyone all over the world in many different ways, so it’s important for us to be updated on the evolving demographic statistics.

Korea

tiffanyzhao2_1 — 2025-04-27 14:52:56 UTC

No author. (2010). Map of Korea. [Photograph]. Flickr. Used on April 27, 2025, taken from https://www.flickr.com/photos/koreanet/4258302543/in/photostream/