UGC NET Questions (Paper – 1)

Natural increase refers to the population change obtained by subtracting the crude death rate from the crude birth rate. It deliberately excludes migration and focuses solely on natural demographic processes. Because the stem specifies population change due only to births and deaths, natural increase is the correct term. This measure helps compare growth trends across countries independent of migration flows.

Option A:
Net migration captures the balance between immigration and emigration rather than births and deaths. It is an important component of total population change but not the natural component referred to in the question. Hence it is not suitable for the blank.

Option B:
Total fertility represents the average number of children a woman is expected to have over her reproductive life. It is a measure of fertility behaviour, not a direct indicator of overall population change in a given year. Therefore it cannot replace natural increase in the stem.

Option C:
Natural increase isolates the effect of reproductive and mortality patterns on population growth. When it is positive, population grows even in the absence of migration; when negative, population shrinks. This makes it exactly the concept being described in the question.

Option D:
Population momentum refers to continued population growth for some time even after fertility has fallen to replacement level, due to the age structure of the population. It is a different phenomenon and does not describe the simple births minus deaths calculation in the stem.

Natural growth (or natural increase) of population is defined as the difference between the crude birth rate and the crude death rate in a given year, usually expressed per thousand population. This measure shows how much the population is changing due to births and deaths alone, without considering migration.

Option A:
Option A is incorrect because the crude birth rate by itself does not account for deaths; high birth and high death rates together can still result in low natural growth.

Option B:
Option B is incorrect as the crude death rate alone captures mortality but ignores the contribution of births to overall population change.

Option C:
Option C is correct since natural increase is calculated as crude birth rate minus crude death rate, directly indicating population growth or decline from vital events.

Option D:
Option D is incorrect because dividing total fertility rate by life expectancy is not a standard demographic measure of growth and does not directly give natural increase.