Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

demography

American  
[dih-mog-ruh-fee] / dɪˈmɒg rə fi /

noun

  1. the science of vital and social statistics, as of the births, deaths, diseases, marriages, etc., of populations.


demography British  
/ dɪˈmɒɡrəfɪ /

noun

  1. the scientific study of human populations, esp with reference to their size, structure, and distribution

"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

demography Cultural  
  1. The quantitative study of human populations. Demographers study subjects such as the geographical distribution of people, birth and death rates, socioeconomic status, and age and sex distributions in order to identify the influences on population growth, structure, and development.


Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of demography

First recorded in 1875–80; demo- + -graphy

Explanation

Do you know the population growth rate of your city? The education levels of everyone on your block? Then you're a fan of demography, the branch of sociology that studies human behavior by analyzing statistical information. The word demography comes from two ancient Greek words, demos, meaning "the people," and graphy, meaning "writing about or recording something" — so literally demography means "writing about the people." Like many branches of the sciences, demography began in the 19th century, when the general craze for cataloging information about the world really took off (think Darwin.) A common related word is demographics, referring to the raw statistical data that's used for analysis.

Keep Reading on Vocabulary.com

Vocabulary lists containing demography

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

But Berlin will soon decide what sort of destiny it wants to craft for itself in light of its demography.

From The Wall Street Journal Feb. 19, 2026

“You have one guy, a sociologist, who has no formal training in demography and who’s never been to a blue zone making all these sorts of parallel claims.”

From Science Magazine Nov. 20, 2024

From other registers, the researchers retrieved information on morbidity, mortality and demography.

From Science Daily Jun. 18, 2024

Victories in Indian elections aren't solely determined by a single factor - caste, demography and religious identity are other key predictors of support for a party.

From BBC May 8, 2024

Henige stumbled across a seminar on Indian demography taught by Denevan in 1976.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Dictionary.com's Learning Companion

Go beyond just looking up words.
Remember them forever with VocabTrainer.

Start training