depopulation.

A reduction in the number of people living in an area, sometimes leaving it largely empty.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• rural depopulation
• depopulation of a district

On the page

Rural depopulation left the school serving three scattered households.

The map concealed the district’s depopulation by retaining every vanished village name.

Usage notes

Primary category: setting. Forms: Usually uncountable; plural depopulations for separate events. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings.