Dynamics and determinants of the demographic transition in Peru

Abstract

The demographic transition refers to the progressive reduction of fertility and mortality rates at different times between countries. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the timing of this process in Peru, pointing out its typification among the models identified in Latin America and characterizing its territorial heterogeneity. Based on information provided by CEPALSTAT, population censuses and DHS, we propose a temporal delimitation of the demographic transition and an analysis of the determinants of the fertility decline according to variables associated with “socio-cultural modernization” such as the expansion of education and greater access to family planning. Likewise, the territorial disaggregation of the results shows a time gap of two to three decades in the timing of the demographic transition between urban and rural areas of the country.