Démographiques

Démographiques is the French adjective related to demographics. The field studies the size, structure, distribution, and dynamics of populations and how they change over time due to births, deaths, and migration, as well as the effects of policy, economy, and environment on these processes.

Key measures include population size, age structure, sex ratio, fertility and mortality rates, migration flows, urbanization, and household composition. When available, demographic analysis also considers socio-economic characteristics such as education, employment, income, and ethnicity. Population projections extend current trends to estimate future sizes and structures.

Data sources include censuses, vital statistics and civil registration, surveys (for example health or labor surveys), and administrative records. Emerging sources include anonymized administrative data and, in some contexts, big data. Limitations include undercounting, varying definitions across countries, time lags, and privacy constraints that affect data quality and comparability.

Applications span public policy, economics, health, urban planning, and market research. Demographic analysis supports planning for schools, pensions, healthcare capacity, housing, and labor markets, and helps explain trends such as aging populations, migration pressures, and changing household forms. The field is inherently interdisciplinary, drawing on statistics, sociology, economics, geography, and epidemiology.