Vegetative growth is the value obtained through the difference between the birth rate and the death rate region.
Along with the migration rate, vegetative growth helps define the demographic growth of the observed location.
Also known as "natural growth", this can be classified into three different categories: positive, negative and null.
When vegetative growth is positive, means that the number of births is higher than that of deaths, causing a progressive increase in the number of inhabitants in the analyzed region.
natural growth negative it is the opposite of the positive. It is characterized by a greater number of deaths than births.
Finally, when configuring as null, meaning that the birth rate and death rate have the same number. In this case, there is no growth in population, but rather its stagnation.
Learn more about the meaning of Birth rate and of the Mortality rate.
Economic, social, cultural and religious conditions directly influence the region's demographic growth.
According to
Demographic Transition Theory, the vegetative growth may vary according to some factors related to the development of a given location.Underdeveloped countries, for example, have a high vegetative growth, as the families still have many children, making the number of births exceed the number of deaths.
Developed countries, on the other hand, tend to have a much smaller vegetative growth, as families start having fewer children.
In fact, this is one of the main obstacles for developed countries. With an aging population, there is a shortage of professionally active labor to drive the country's economy. Social security in countries with low vegetative growth is overburdened.
It is worth remembering that the vegetative growth does not take into account the migratory balance, but only the individuals who were born in the analyzed place.
The call absolute growth analyzes both the number of births and the number of migrations to a given country.
See also: the meaning of Absolute population.
Vegetative growth in Brazil
Currently, Brazil is among the most populous countries on the planet. Brazilian vegetative growth has been boosted from the 1950s onwards, with an increase of approximately 140 million people in 50 years.
However, according to estimates by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), the vegetative growth in Brazil is decreasing.
Compared to 50 years ago, when each couple had an average of 6.5 children, the current range is 2.3 per family.
According to the 2013 census, Brazil has 200.4 million inhabitants. The IBGE points out that in the coming years the increase should be just over 55 million, and the vegetative growth rate will be 0.24%.
It does not mean, however, that the Brazilian population will decrease, as Brazilians' life expectancy will increase. As with the current European developed countries, Brazil will be a predominantly aged country.
