Rural depopulation is the process in which population density in rural areas decreases overtime. This is caused by the migration of people to urban areas in search of a higher quality of living and employment. Displacement as a result of large development projects and mining may also cause rural depopulation.
Some worries regarding rural depopulation include the loss of cultural landscapes as people relocate from their inherited land. The volume and speed of food production may also decrease in rural areas due to the decrease in the eligible workforce population. Rural depopulation also tends to correlate with a decrease in an area's youth population.
