We consider stochastic population processes that are almost surely absorbed at the origin within finite time. Our interest is in the quasistationary distribution, \({\varvec{u}}\) , and the expected time, \(\tau \) , from quasistationarity to extinction, both of which we study via WKB approximation. This approach involves solving a Hamilton-Jacobi partial differential equation specific to the model. We provide conditions under which analytical solution of the Hamilton-Jacobi equation is possible, and give the solution. This provides a first approximation to both \({\varvec{u}}\) and \(\tau \) . We provide further conditions under which a corresponding ‘transport equation’ may be solved, leading to an improved approximation of \({\varvec{u}}\) . For multitype birth and death processes, we then consider an alternative approximation for \({\varvec{u}}\) that is valid close to the origin, provide conditions under which the elements of this alternative approximation may be found explicitly, and hence derive an improved approximation for \(\tau \) . We illustrate our results in a number of applications.
