Stage 2: Early transition

During the early stages of the transition, the death rate begins to fall. As birth rates remain high, the population starts to grow rapidly. This ‘population explosion’ happens because death rates are brought down relatively quickly through advanced methods of disease control, public health, and better nutrition. However, it takes longer for society to adjust to change and alter its reproductive behaviour (which was evolved during the period of poverty and high death rates) to suit the new situation of relative prosperity and longer life spans. In India too, the demographic transition is not yet complete as the mortality rate has been reduced but the birth rate has not been brought down to the same extent( In fact there exists a demographic divide in India with Southern stages showing advanced stage of demographic transition)