Multilingual Demographic Dictionary, second unified edition, English volume

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Population projections ¹ are calculations which show the future development of a population when certain assumptions are made about the future course of fertility, mortality and migration. They are in general purely formal calculations, developing the implications of the assumptions that are made. A population forecast ² is a projection in which the assumptions are considered to yield a realistic picture of the probable future development of a population. Generally speaking, these are short-term forecasts ³, as the margin of error to which they are subject increases considerably with the space of the forecast.