Stage 1: High fluctuation - high birth rate and death rates - however population growth is small.

Reasons for high birth rate include:

• Limited birth control
• high infant mortality rate encourages the birth of more children
• children are seen as a future source of income, therefore it would be more economically beneficial to have more kids.

Reasons for high death rate:

• high incidence of disease
• poor nutrition and famine
• poor levels of hygene

Stage 2: High birth rate but falling death rate. The total population begins to expand rapidly.

Reasons for falling death rate:

• Improved public health
• Better nutrition
• Lower child mortality

Stage 3: Falling birth rate, continuing falling death rate. The population growth slows down.