Population Changes During the Demographic Transition

Abstract

AbstractThe aim of this chapter is to present the population changes during the demographic transition, which accompanied the social and economic transformations taking place in Poland since the 1990s. This chapter characterises the Polish demography in terms of changes in size of the population, natural movement and migration as well as the structure of the population. Furthermore, the spatial diversification of population growth and the changes in demographic age across 2477 Polish municipalities (it can be also translated as communes or gminas (Polish gmina) are identified. The situation facing Poland with regard to selected demographic indicators is compared with the other member states of the European Union. This chapter identifies a few demographic challenges across Poland such as a high concentration of the population in the most developed agglomerations accompanied with suburbanisation, depopulation of peripheral regions, population ageing in many rural areas as well as the biggest cities and the changes in the family model and life style resulting in a very low birth rate. Furthermore, Poland has a very low fertility rate compared to the other EU countries. Therefore, Poland follows negative natural increase, despite having a relatively low population decline and a demographically young population.KeywordsDemographic changesDepopulationPopulation structureNatural movementMigrationPopulation ageing