Geography final essay facts and tatistics memorise

JAPAN: Population (2025)

Approximately 123 million people.

JAPAN: Birth rate (2024)

About 6 births per 1,000 people.

JAPAN: Death rate

About 13 deaths per 1,000 people; confirm the year before directly comparing it with the birth rate.

JAPAN: Fertility rate (2024)

About 1.15 children per woman, below the replacement level of around 2.1.

JAPAN: Life expectancy

About 84 years.

JAPAN: Economically active population (2025)

About 64%, according to your revision notes.

JAPAN: Advantage: Older people contribute to employment and economic activity

About 9.6 million employed people aged 65+ in 2025, representing about 14% of Japan's labour force.

JAPAN: Advantage: Growth in elderly-care employment

Employment of people aged 65+ in the medical and welfare sector was about 2.4 times higher in 2023 than in 2013.

JAPAN: Disadvantage: Government spending on an ageing population

In FY2023, about ¥86 trillion was spent on benefits related to older people, around 64% of all social security benefits.

JAPAN: Disadvantage: Social isolation among older people

In 2020, about 22% of women and 15% of men aged 65+ lived alone.

JAPAN: What demographic pattern do its low fertility and high life expectancy suggest?

Population ageing, with fewer young people entering the workforce and a growing proportion of older people.

MEXICO–USA: Advantage for Mexico: Remittances support families and the economy

In 2024, Mexico received about US$65 billion in remittances, equivalent to roughly 4% of GDP.

MEXICO–USA: Disadvantage for Mexico: Brain drain

An older estimate suggested about 16% of Mexico's tertiary-educated population had migrated to the USA.

MEXICO–USA: Disadvantage for Mexico: Family separation

More than 1 in 5 Mexican children experienced their father's migration by age 15; about 1 in 11 experienced their father's migration to the USA.

MEXICO–USA: Advantage for the USA: Migration supports the labour force

In 2024, about 68% of Mexican immigrants aged 16+ participated in the US civilian labour force, compared with about 63% of the US-born population.

MEXICO–USA: How can remittances benefit local businesses?

Money sent home increases household spending, supporting demand for local goods and services.

MEXICO–USA: How can brain drain affect Mexico's public services?

Losing skilled workers, such as doctors and teachers, can make it harder to staff essential services.

MEXICO–USA: What is one limitation of the family-separation statistic?

It measures children's experience of their father's migration, not the percentage who feel lonely.

SINGAPORE: Population trend

Small natural increase in 2025 because the birth rate was slightly higher than the death rate.

SINGAPORE: Birth rate (2025)

About 6.5 births per 1,000 people.

SINGAPORE: Death rate (2025)

About 6 deaths per 1,000 people.

SINGAPORE: Fertility rate (2025)

About 0.9 children per woman, far below the replacement level of around 2.1.

SINGAPORE: Life expectancy

About 84 years.

SINGAPORE: Old-age dependency ratio (2025)

About 29 people aged 65+ per 100 people aged 15–64.

SINGAPORE: Advantage: Financial incentives encourage people to have children

Eligible parents can receive a Baby Bonus cash gift of up to about S$11,000 for a first or second child under the relevant scheme.

SINGAPORE: Advantage: Support helps parents combine work and childcare

Eligible working mothers can receive up to 16 weeks of maternity leave.

SINGAPORE: Disadvantage: Pro-natalist policies have had limited success

The resident fertility rate fell from about 1.0 children per woman in 2024 to about 0.9 in 2025.

SINGAPORE: What does a fertility rate of about 0.9 suggest?

Fertility is far below replacement level, risking smaller future generations and a shrinking future workforce.

SINGAPORE: Why can maternity leave create challenges for businesses?

Employers may need temporary cover or redistribute work, potentially increasing costs or workloads.

SINGAPORE: What is one limitation of fertility statistics when evaluating government policy?

A change in fertility does not prove that government policy alone caused it.

CHINA: Population (end of 2025)

About 1.4 billion people.

CHINA: Birth rate (2025)

About 5.6 births per 1,000 people.

CHINA: Death rate (2025)

About 8 deaths per 1,000 people.

CHINA: Fertility rate

About 1 child per woman, far below the replacement level of around 2.1.

CHINA: Life expectancy

About 79 years.

CHINA: Population trend (2025)

Natural decrease because the death rate exceeded the birth rate.

CHINA: Advantage of the One-Child Policy: Slower population growth and reduced pressure on resources

A 1999 study estimated that the policy prevented at least 250 million births compared with what might otherwise have occurred; this is a historical estimate.

CHINA: Advantage of the One-Child Policy: Increased educational investment and attainment

The share of the population with college-level education or above rose from about 4% in 2000 to about 9% in 2010; this cannot be attributed to the policy alone.

CHINA: Disadvantage of the One-Child Policy: Financial pressure on only children

A 2015 urban survey found that about 1 in 3 surveyed only children frequently provided money or material goods to their elderly parents.

CHINA: Disadvantage of the One-Child Policy: Ageing population and economic pressure

In 2025, about 16% of China's population, or roughly 224 million people, were aged 65+.

CHINA: Disadvantage of the One-Child Policy: Shrinking working-age population

The population aged 16–59 fell from about 937 million in 2012 to about 858 million in 2024, a decline of roughly 80 million.

CHINA: How did the One-Child Policy contribute to population ageing?

Restricting births reduced the size of younger generations, increasing the proportion of older people as earlier generations aged.

CHINA: How can an ageing population harm economic growth?

A smaller workforce can contribute to labour shortages, while pension, healthcare and elderly-care needs place pressure on public spending.

CHINA: What is the 4-2-1 problem?

One adult child may need to support two parents and four grandparents, creating potential financial and caregiving pressure.

CHINA: What is one limitation of the education statistic?

Educational attainment also increased because of wider access to education and other social and economic changes.

CHINA: What is one limitation of the One-Child Policy birth-prevention estimate?

It compares actual births with an estimated alternative scenario; it is not a directly observed count of births prevented.