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Studies & Degrees in Population Studies

Population studies, or demography, is the scientific study of human populations: their size, their structure and how they change. The Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research describes demography as the science of populations and names three main processes that demographers investigate: birth, migration, and ageing, including death. Population studies is the wider label. It adds the social, economic and health causes and consequences of those processes.

The questions are current ones. According to the United Nations, the world's population reached 8 billion on 15 November 2022 and is projected to peak at approximately 10.3 billion by the mid-2080s. The global fertility rate was 2.3 live births per woman in 2024, and by 2080 people aged 65 and older are expected to outnumber children under 18.

What students learn

Programmes combine theory with a large amount of quantitative method. The doctoral programme in Demography of the Centre d'Estudis Demogràfics (CED) and the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona lists the typical content:

  • Theories of demographic change: fertility, family, migration, mortality and ageing
  • Population projections
  • Techniques of demographic analysis
  • Data sources such as censuses, registers and surveys
  • Population and migration policy
  • Advanced statistics and software such as R and QGIS

Students need to be comfortable with numbers. A background in sociology, geography, economics, statistics or public health is common.

Qualifications and levels

Population studies is mostly a postgraduate subject. At bachelor's level it usually appears as courses within sociology, geography, economics or statistics rather than as a full degree.

  • Master's degrees. Many take one or two years. The MSc Social Research Methods with Demography at the University of Southampton, for example, takes one year full time and covers demographic data, the quantitative analysis of population change and applied statistics. In Spain, official master's degrees have 60, 90 or 120 ECTS credits.
  • Doctorates. The CED states that, together with the Geography Department of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, it organises the only programmes in Spain devoted entirely to demography and population studies. Its doctorate in Demography can be taken in Spanish, Catalan or English.
  • Pre-doctoral schools. The European Doctoral School of Demography is an eleven-month sponsored programme offered every year, currently located in Paris.

Where to study

SpainExchange lists four active schools for population studies, one each in Australia, Ethiopia, Guatemala, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. They are the University of Melbourne, Addis Ababa University, the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala and Richmond Vale Academy.

They differ a great deal. The Universidad del Valle de Guatemala lists a postgraduate programme in population and public policy for development (Población y Políticas Públicas para el Desarrollo), taught in a Spanish-speaking country. Richmond Vale Academy in Saint Vincent is not a university: it runs six-month and ten-month volunteer programmes on climate and community work. Ask each school which population courses it currently offers, at what level and in which language.

Because the list is short, it is worth looking at sociology, geography, statistics and public health departments as well. Many of them teach demography under those names.

Careers

Demographers work where population data are produced or used. Typical employers are national statistical offices, ministries and local government, public health bodies, international organisations, universities and research centres, and market research or insurance companies. The United Nations Population Division, for example, conducts demographic research and helps countries produce and analyse population data. The University of Southampton names health and social care, local and national government and international organisations as sectors that use this kind of analysis.

Official statistics do not count demographers separately. For neighbouring occupations in the United States, the Bureau of Labor Statistics states that sociologists typically need at least a master's degree. It counted 2,700 sociologist jobs in 2025 and projects growth of 4 percent from 2025 to 2035. For mathematicians and statisticians together it projects growth of 10 percent over the same period.

Frequently asked questions

Is population studies the same as demography?

Largely, yes. Demography is the statistical core: size, structure and change of populations. Population studies also covers the social, economic and health causes and effects of those changes.

Can I study population studies as a bachelor's degree?

Rarely as a full degree. It is usually taught as courses within sociology, geography, economics or statistics, and as a specialism at master's and doctoral level.

Do I need mathematics?

You need to be comfortable with statistics. Programmes teach demographic analysis, projections and statistical software, as the CED doctorate in Barcelona shows.

Can I study demography in Spanish?

Yes. The doctorate in Demography of the CED and the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona can be taken in Spanish, Catalan or English, and the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala lists a postgraduate programme on population and public policy.