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population pyramid

noun

, Sociology.
  1. a graph showing the distribution of a population by sex or gender, age, etc., the depiction of which is typically pyramid-shaped.


population pyramid

noun

  1. a pyramid-shaped diagram illustrating the age distribution of a population: the youngest are represented by a rectangle at the base, the oldest by one at the apex
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Word History and Origins

Origin of population pyramid1

First recorded in 1945–50
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Example Sentences

The population pyramid, where older people form the top tip, has shifted more toward a rectangle because of the large baby boom generation, said Bea Rector, secretary of the state Department of Social and Health Services’ Aging and Long-Term Support Administration.

If that happens, the population pyramid would essentially flip.

“Having a society where the population pyramid is inverted, where there’s fewer people in the age group behind you and more people in the age group ahead of you – which is where we’re rapidly heading – just has incredibly profound effects on every aspect of how our society is organised,” he says.

“There is a totally inverted population pyramid. There are many more elderly people than young people and life expectancy is among the highest in the world; that in itself has its own repercussions,” says Emilio García, mayor of Parres, one of the 78 councils in Asturias, the region where Menéndez and the other volunteers in his group operate.

Looking at Western Europe and Japan we can get an idea of what might happen here at home in the near future—the upside-down population pyramid problem, meaning that fewer babies are being born and that the elderly are living longer, which leads to imbalanced demography and potential socioeconomic collapse.

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population pressurepopulism