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Subfield · Social Sciences

Demography research

Demography is a subfield of Social Sciences. Science Explorer counts 499k research works in it since 1950. 16.8% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

In short: science that deals with populations and their structures statistically and theoretically.

Research works
499k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
84k
per year above
Top-10% rate
16.8%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Topics
27
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+87%
the tick is no change

What is Demography research about, and what is growing?

By the world's output in 2019–23, its most used keywords are COVID-19, Pandemic, Migration, Agriculture, Food Security, Rural Transformation. Gaining share since 2009–13: COVID-19, Pandemic, Agricultural Development, Food Additives, Food Security. Losing share: Innovation, Identity, Globalization, Education.

▲ gaining share of this field◆ holding its share▼ losing share

Size is the world's fractional works in 2019–23 in the topics tagged with each word; colour compares the word's share of this field with 2009–13. Each links to the topic it comes from most.

All 40 words, with their numbers
  1. COVID-1969k▲ 10×1 topic
  2. Pandemic69k▲ 10×1 topic
  3. Migration18k▲ 1.65×4 topics
  4. Agriculture17k▲ 1.69×2 topics
  5. Food Security14k▲ 4.7×1 topic
  6. Rural Transformation14k▲ 4.7×1 topic
  7. Prevalence12k▼ 0.78×2 topics
  8. Risk Factors12k▼ 0.78×2 topics
  9. Health12k▼ 0.22×3 topics
  10. Education11k▼ 0.19×6 topics
  11. Cocaine9,390▼ 0.78×1 topic
  12. Crack9,390▼ 0.78×1 topic
  13. Agricultural Development9,151▲ 4.8×1 topic
  14. Food Additives9,151▲ 4.8×1 topic
  15. Globalization8,064▼ 0.16×4 topics
  16. Sustainability6,828▼ 0.64×2 topics
  17. Economic Development6,051▼ 0.54×2 topics
  18. Lifestyle Migration5,897▼ 0.65×1 topic
  19. Retirement Migration5,897▼ 0.65×1 topic
  20. Aging Workforce5,717▼ 0.54×1 topic
  21. Retirement5,717▼ 0.54×1 topic
  22. Identity5,560▼ 0.12×3 topics
  23. Older Adults5,320◆ 1.06×1 topic
  24. Technology Use5,320◆ 1.06×1 topic
  25. Diaspora4,708▼ 0.57×2 topics
  26. Mortality Forecasting4,579▼ 0.46×1 topic
  27. Population Ageing4,579▼ 0.46×1 topic
  28. Divorce4,491▼ 0.50×1 topic
  29. Fertility4,491▼ 0.50×1 topic
  30. Innovation4,488▼ 0.10×2 topics
  31. History4,421▼ 0.51×2 topics
  32. Hispanic World4,414▼ 0.48×1 topic
  33. Independence4,414▼ 0.48×1 topic
  34. Ethnicity4,124▼ 0.61×2 topics
  35. Vulnerability4,015▼ 0.58×2 topics
  36. Conflict3,931▼ 0.50×2 topics
  37. Development3,833▼ 0.74×1 topic
  38. Volunteer Tourism3,833▼ 0.74×1 topic
  39. Colombia3,401▼ 0.47×1 topic
  40. Society3,401▼ 0.47×1 topic

Which countries lead Demography research?

On research quality in 2022–2025, China, the United States and Indonesia rank highest in Demography. By volume, Indonesia and the United States publish the most (69k and 11k works in 2022–2025).

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 China · #3 all time 34.6% top 10% · 4.9k works
  2. 2 United States · #1 all time 19.9% top 10% · 11k works
  3. 3 Indonesia · #4 all time 7.1% top 10% · 69k works
  4. 4 United Kingdom · #2 all time 28.5% top 10% · 3.2k works
  5. 5 Australia · #5 all time 29.6% top 10% · 2.1k works
  6. 6 India · #11 all time 20.3% top 10% · 2.5k works
  7. 7 Germany · #6 all time 27.8% top 10% · 1.8k works
  8. 8 Spain · #9 all time 16.9% top 10% · 3k works
  9. 9 Canada · #7 all time 24.1% top 10% · 1.7k works
  10. 10 Italy · #10 all time 27.5% top 10% · 1.2k works

The track on each row is that row’s top-10% rate. The ranking itself is the composite score, which the rate is only one part of.

Of 57 countries ranked in Demography. Composite of field-normalised excellence (50%), output (30%) and citations (20%); the bracket is the all-time rank.

All countries ranked in Demography

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Indonesia 69k works
  2. 2 United States 11k works
  3. 3 Brazil 8.9k works
  4. 4 Russia 5.4k works
  5. 5 China 4.9k works
  6. 6 United Kingdom 3.2k works
  7. 7 Spain 3k works
  8. 8 ?? 2.6k works
  9. 9 India 2.5k works
  10. 10 Australia 2.1k works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

Indonesia: 61.3%United States: 9.8%Brazil: 7.9%Russia: 4.8%6 others listed: 16.2%61%largest
Indonesia69k · 61.3%United States11k · 9.8%Brazil8,908 · 7.9%Russia5,377 · 4.8%6 others listed18k · 16.2%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Demography research?

University of Hong Kong (Hong Kong) ranks first in Demography on research quality in 2022–2025, followed by Peking University and Universitas Patria Artha.

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 University of Hong Kong Hong Kong · Pok Fu Lam · #18 all time 50.1% top 10% · 113 works
  2. 2 Peking University China · Beijing · #66 all time 39.1% top 10% · 104 works
  3. 3 Universitas Patria Artha Indonesia · Makassar · #67 all time 6.3% top 10% · 1.8k works
  4. 4 National University of Singapore Singapore · Singapore · #29 all time 39.6% top 10% · 106 works
  5. 5 Hong Kong Polytechnic University Hong Kong · Hong Kong · #56 all time 42.8% top 10% · 101 works
  6. 6 University College London United Kingdom · London · #9 all time 31.4% top 10% · 159 works
  7. 7 Padjadjaran University Indonesia · Bandung · #77 all time 8.1% top 10% · 831 works
  8. 8 Institut Agama Islam Negeri Bengkulu Indonesia · Bengkulu 5.7% top 10% · 1.2k works
  9. 9 University of Brawijaya Indonesia · Malang · #81 all time 9.6% top 10% · 728 works
  10. 10 Universitas Islam Negeri Sumatera Utara Indonesia · Medan 6.8% top 10% · 1.1k works

The track on each row is that row’s top-10% rate. The ranking itself is the composite score, which the rate is only one part of.

Of 413 institutions above the floor of 40 fractional works in Demography.

Top 100 Demography institutions

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Universitas Patria Artha Indonesia 1.8k works
  2. 2 University of Pembangunan Nasional Veteran Jawa Timur Indonesia 1.4k works
  3. 3 Institut Agama Islam Negeri Bengkulu Indonesia 1.2k works
  4. 4 Universitas Islam Negeri Sumatera Utara Indonesia 1.1k works
  5. 5 Padjadjaran University Indonesia 831 works
  6. 6 State University of Malang Indonesia 810 works
  7. 7 University of Mataram Indonesia 753 works
  8. 8 University of Brawijaya Indonesia 728 works
  9. 9 Udayana University Indonesia 693 works
  10. 10 University of Indonesia Indonesia 677 works

Who are the leading researchers in Demography?

Among the most productive authors in Demography, Christopher J L Murray, Robert J. Barro and Sander L. Gilman rank highest on the composite score.

  1. 1 Christopher J L Murray United States · #23 worldwide 13k citations · 158 works
  2. 2 Robert J. Barro United States · #36 worldwide 7.9k citations · 165 works
  3. 3 Sander L. Gilman United States · #37 worldwide 4.2k citations · 154 works
  4. 4 Perminder S. Sachdev Australia · #56 worldwide 4.6k citations · 215 works
  5. 5 Juan Ramón De La Fuente Mexico · #61 worldwide 1.5k citations · 228 works
  6. 6 Mika Kivimäki United Kingdom · #69 worldwide 6.7k citations · 266 works
  7. 7 Déborah Carvalho Malta Brazil · #71 worldwide 5.5k citations · 142 works
  8. 8 Martin McKee United Kingdom · #78 worldwide 5.4k citations · 369 works
  9. 9 Daron Acemoğlu United States · #106 worldwide 5.7k citations · 213 works
  10. 10 Immanuel Wallerstein United States · #111 worldwide 1.7k citations · 232 works

Re-ranked on the composite score from the 4,842 highest-output authors in Demography. Identities come from OpenAlex author disambiguation, which occasionally merges or splits people.

Top 100 Demography researchers

Where is Demography research done?

The largest centres of Demography research in 2022–2025 are Jakarta (Indonesia), Bandung (Indonesia), Surabaya (Indonesia) and Makassar (Indonesia). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Zionsville, Bellaterra and Sidoarjo.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Jakarta Indonesia 8.4k works
  2. 2 Bandung Indonesia 5.1k works
  3. 3 Surabaya Indonesia 4.7k works
  4. 4 Makassar Indonesia 3.7k works
  5. 5 Medan Indonesia 3.7k works
  6. 6 Yogyakarta Indonesia 2.7k works
  7. 7 Malang Indonesia 2.7k works
  8. 8 Semarang Indonesia 2.3k works
  9. 9 Bengkulu Indonesia 2k works
  10. 10 Moscow Russia 1.9k works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. ZionsvilleUS · 156.6 works30×
  2. BellaterraES · 31.9 works28×
  3. Sidoarjo55.0 works18×
  4. Sumedang UtaraID · 179.1 works18×
  5. BantenID · 130.1 works17×
  6. Bekasi142.9 works15×
  7. SubangID · 39.6 works14×
  8. Sumbawa BesarID · 60.5 works14×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Demography than the world average.

See Demography on the map

Demography research by country

The best places for Demography research inside each country, with that country's researchers and world standing.

Where is the best place to study Demography?

Among universities, judged by research, Universitas Patria Artha, University of Pembangunan Nasional Veteran Jawa Timur and Mercu Buana University score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%5%10%mean 7.62%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →Universitas Patria Artha: 1,774, 6.3%University of Pembangunan Nasional Veteran Jawa Timur: 1,396, 5.9%Mercu Buana University: 532, 9.6%Universitas Informatika dan Bisnis Indonesia: 629, 8.1%Universitas Nusa Bangsa: 621, 6.4%Universitas Bhayangkara Jakarta Raya: 333, 11.7%Telkom University: 649, 8.5%Universitas Islam Negeri Sumatera Utara: 1,116, 6.8%Universitas 17 Agustus 1945 Surabaya: 424, 6.2%Sam Ratulangi University: 408, 6.7%Mercu Buana UniversityUniversitas Informat…Universitas Patria A…University of Pemban…
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1Universitas Patria Artha Indonesia 63.86.3%16.0×1,774 +1185.1%
2University of Pembangunan Nasional Veteran Jawa Timur Indonesia 62.05.9%14.5×1,396 +1063.7%
3Mercu Buana University Indonesia 58.89.6%10.9×532 +2222.4%
4Universitas Informatika dan Bisnis Indonesia Indonesia 58.68.1%12.6×629 +1412.5%
5Universitas Nusa Bangsa Indonesia 57.46.4%9.9×621 +475.2%
6Universitas Bhayangkara Jakarta Raya Indonesia 57.011.7%10.7×333 +1684.6%
7Telkom University Indonesia 56.38.5%8.8×649 +2616.1%
8Universitas Islam Negeri Sumatera Utara Indonesia 55.66.8%7.8×1,116 +1101.8%
9Universitas 17 Agustus 1945 Surabaya Indonesia 55.16.2%10.8×424 +720.9%
10Sam Ratulangi University Indonesia 55.06.7%9.9×408 +507.8%

Universities only. Score blends excellence (30%), specialisation (25%), size (20%), growth (15%) and international reach (10%), 2015–2022; growth compares 2010–14 with 2015–19.

Is Demography research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 87% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2023. The fastest-growing topics are SMEs Development and Digital Marketing, Agricultural and Environmental Management and Regional Socio-Economic Development Trends.

19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

  1. SMEs Development and Digital Marketing+4097%
  2. Agricultural and Environmental Management+1700%
  3. Regional Socio-Economic Development Trends+1196%
  4. Evasion and Academic Success Factors+950%
  5. Cyberloafing and Workplace Behavior+751%
  6. Knowledge Societies in the 21st Century+392%
  7. Education and Work Dynamics-78%
← shrinkingno changegrowing →

Growth in output from 2005–09 to 2015–19. Every topic is a page of its own.

What does Demography include?

SMEs Development and Dig…117kSMEs Development and Digital Marketing: 117k fractional worksEducation and Work Dynamics: 31k fractional worksYouth, Drugs, and Violence: 29k fractional worksRetirement, Disability, …27kRetirement, Disability, and Employment: 27k fractional worksMigration, Aging, and Tourism Studies: 25k fractional worksRegional Socio-Economic Development Trends: 24k fractional worksFamily Dynamics and Relationships: 23k fractional worksInsurance, Mortality, Demography, Risk Management: 22k fractional worksHistorical Studies in Latin America: 21k fractional worksAgricultural and Environmental Management: 18k fractional worksTechnology Use by Older Adults: 17k fractional worksIsland Studies and Pacific Affairs: 16k fractional works

Area is fractional works in that topic. Every name below is a page of its own.