Developmentrelevance:
Movement of people, most often through migration, is a significant part of global integration. Migrants contribute to the economies of both their host country and their country of origin. Yet reliable statistics on migration are difficult to collect and are often incomplete, making international comparisons a challenge.

Global migration patterns have become increasingly complex in modern times, involving not just refugees, but also millions of economic migrants. In most developed countries, refugees are admitted for resettlement and are routinely included in population counts by censuses or population registers.

But refugees and migrants, even if they often travel in the same way, are fundamentally different, and for that reason are treated very differently under modern international law. Migrants, especially economic migrants, choose to move in order to improve the future prospects of themselves and their families. Refugees have to move if they are to save their lives or preserve their freedom.

IndicatorName: Net migration

Limitationsandexceptions: International migration is the component of population change most difficult to measure and estimate reliably. Thus, the quality and quantity of the data used in the estimation and projection of net migration varies considerably by country. Furthermore, the movement of people across international boundaries, which is very often a response to changing socio-economic, political and environmental forces, is subject to a great deal of volatility. Refugee movements, for instance, may involve large numbers of people moving across boundaries in a short time. For these reasons, projections of future international migration levels are the least robust part of current population projections and reflect mainly a continuation of recent levels and trends in net migration.

Longdefinition: Net migration is the net total of migrants during the period, that is, the number of immigrants minus the number of emigrants, including both citizens and noncitizens.

Shortdefinition: Net migration is the number of immigrants minus the number of emigrants, including citizens and noncitizens.

Source: United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects: 2024 Revision.

Statisticalconceptandmethodology:
The United Nations Population Division provides data on net migration and migrant stock. Because data on migrant stock is difficult for countries to collect, the United Nations Population Division takes into account the past migration history of a country or area, the migration policy of a country, and the influx of refugees in recent periods when deriving estimates of net migration. The data to calculate these estimates come from a variety of sources, including border statistics, administrative records, surveys, and censuses.

When there is insufficient data, net migration is derived through the difference between the overall population growth rate and the rate of natural increase (the difference between the birth rate and the death rate) during the same period. Such calculations are usually made for intercensal periods. The estimates are also derived from the data on foreign-born population - people who have residence in one country but were born in another country. When data on the foreign-born population are not available, data on foreign population - that is, people who are citizens of a country other than the country in which they reside - are used as estimates.

Topic: Social Protection & Labor: Migration


Aggregationmethod: Sum

Developmentrelevance:
Movement of people, most often through migration, is a significant part of global integration. Migrants contribute to the economies of both their host country and their country of origin. Yet reliable statistics on migration are difficult to collect and are often incomplete, making international comparisons a challenge.

In most developed countries, refugees are admitted for resettlement and are routinely included in population counts by censuses or population registers. Globally, the number of refugees at end 2010 was 10.55 million, including 597,300 people considered by UNHCR to be in a refugee-like situation; developing countries hosted 8.5 million refugees, or 80 percent of the global refugee population.

Global migration patterns have become increasingly complex in modern times, involving not just refugees, but also millions of economic migrants. But refugees and migrants, even if they often travel in the same way, are fundamentally different, and for that reason are treated very differently under modern international law. Migrants, especially economic migrants, choose to move in order to improve the future prospects of themselves and their families. Refugees have to move if they are to save their lives or preserve their freedom. They have no protection from their own state - indeed it is often their own government that is threatening to persecute them. If other countries do not let them in, and do not help them once they are in, then they may be condemning them to death - or to an intolerable life in the shadows, without sustenance and without rights.

IndicatorName: Refugee population by country or territory of asylum

License_Type: CC BY-4.0

Limitationsandexceptions:
There are difficulties in collecting accurate statistics on refugees. Many refugees may not be aware of the need to register or may choose not to do so, and administrative records tend to overestimate the number of refugees because it is easier to register than to de-register. In addition, most industrialized countries lack a refugee register and are thus not in a position to provide accurate information on the number of refugees residing in their country. Many countries have registries that are only maintained at the local level, so the data is not centralized.

Asylum-seekers are persons who have applied for asylum or refugee status, but who have not yet received a final decision on their application. A distinction should be made between the number of asylum-seekers who have submitted an individual request during a certain period ("asylum applications submitted") and the number of asylum-seekers whose individual asylum request has not yet been decided at a certain date ("backlog of undecided or pending cases"). Caution should therefore be exercised when interpreting data on asylum-seekers.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) collects and maintains data on refugees, except for Palestinian refugees residing in areas under the mandate of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). Registration is voluntary, and estimates by the UNRWA are not an accurate count of the Palestinian refugee population. The data shows estimates of refugees collected by the UNHCR, complemented by estimates of Palestinian refugees under the UNRWA mandate. Thus, the aggregates differ from those published by the UNHCR.

Statistics concerning the former USSR have been reported under the Russian Federation, those concerning the former Czechoslovakia have been reported under the Czech Republic and those concerning the former Yugoslavia and 'Serbia and Montenegro' have been reported under Serbia. Since 2006, separate statistics are available for Serbia and for Montenegro. Prior to 2006, no separate statistics are available and both countries have been reported under Serbia.

Longdefinition: Refugees are people who are recognized as refugees under the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, the 1969 Organization of African Unity Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa, people recognized as refugees in accordance with the UNHCR statute, people granted refugee-like humanitarian status, and people provided temporary protection. Asylum seekers--people who have applied for asylum or refugee status and who have not yet received a decision or who are registered as asylum seekers--are excluded. Palestinian refugees are people (and their descendants) whose residence was Palestine between June 1946 and May 1948 and who lost their homes and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict. Country of asylum is the country where an asylum claim was filed and granted.

Notesfromoriginalsource:
The refugee population category from 2007 onwards also includes people in a refugee-like situation, most of who were previously included in the Others of concern group. This sub-category is descriptive in nature and includes groups of persons who are outside their country or territory of origin and who face protection risks similar to those of refugees, but for whom refugee status has, for practical or other reasons, not been ascertained.

Statistics concerning the former USSR have been reported under the Russian Federation, those concerning the former Czechoslovakia have been reported under the Czech Republic and those concerning the former Yugoslavia and 'Serbia and Montenegro' have been reported under Serbia. Since 2006, separate statistics are available for Serbia and for Montenegro. Prior to 2006, no separate statistics are available and both countries have been reported under Serbia.

Periodicity: Annual

Shortdefinition: Refugees are people who are recognized as refugees under the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, the 1969 Organization of African Unity Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa, people recognized as refugees in accordance with the UNHCR statute, people granted refugee-like humanitarian status, and people provided temporary protection. Asylum seekers -- people who have applied for asylum or refugee status and who have not yet received a decision or who are registered as asylum seekers--are excluded. Palestinian refugees are people (and their descendants) whose residence was Palestine between June 1946 and May 1948 and who lost their homes and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict. Country of asylum is the country where an asylum claim was filed and granted.

Source: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and UNRWA through UNHCR's Refugee Data Finder at https://www.unhcr.org/refugee-statistics/.

Statisticalconceptandmethodology:
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) collects and maintains data on refugees in their Statistical Online Population Database. The refugee data does not include Palestinian refugees residing in areas under the mandate of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). However, the Palestinian refugees living outside the UNRWA areas of operation do fall under the responsibility of UNHCR and are thus included in the Statistical Online Population Database.

Refugees are an important part of migrant stock. The refugee data refer to people who have crossed an international border to find sanctuary and have been granted refugee or refugee-like status or temporary protection. There are three main providers of refugee data: governmental agencies, UNHCR field offices and NGOs. Registrations, together with other sources - including estimates and surveys - are the main sources of refugee data. In the absence of Government estimates, UNHCR has estimated the refugee population in most industrialized countries, based on recognition of asylum-seekers. Prior to 2007, resettled refugees were included in these estimates.

Up to and including 2006, to ensure that the refugee population in countries that lack a refugee registry is reflected in the global statistics, the number of refugees was estimated by UNHCR based on the arrival of refugees through resettlement programmes and the individual recognition of refugees over a 10-year (Europe and, since 2006, the United States) or 5-year (the United States before 2006, Canada and Oceania) period. Starting with the 2007 data, the cut-off period has been harmonized and now covers a 10-year period for Europe and non-European countries. Resettled refugees, however, are excluded from the refugee estimates in all countries.

The 2007-2011 refugee population category includes people in a refugee-like situation, most of who were previously included in the Others of concern group. This sub-category is descriptive in nature and includes groups of persons who are outside their country or territory of origin and who face protection risks similar to those of refugees, but for whom refugee status has, for practical or other reasons, not been ascertained.

Asylum seekers - people who have applied for asylum or refugee status and who have not yet received a decision or who are registered as asylum seekers - and internally displaced people - who are often confused with refugees - are not included in the data. Unlike refugees, internally displaced people remain under the protection of their own government, even if their reason for fleeing was similar to that of refugees.

Palestinian refugees are people (and their descendants) whose residence was Palestine between June 1946 and May 1948 and who lost their homes and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict.


IndicatorName: Refugee population by country or territory of origin

Limitationsandexceptions:
There are difficulties in collecting accurate statistics on refugees. Many refugees may not be aware of the need to register or may choose not to do so, and administrative records tend to overestimate the number of refugees because it is easier to register than to de-register. In addition, most industrialized countries lack a refugee register and are thus not in a position to provide accurate information on the number of refugees residing in their country. Many countries have registries that are only maintained at the local level, so the data is not centralized.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) collects and maintains data on refugees, except for Palestinian refugees residing in areas under the mandate of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). Registration is voluntary, and estimates by the UNRWA are not an accurate count of the Palestinian refugee population. The data shows estimates of refugees collected by the UNHCR, complemented by estimates of Palestinian refugees under the UNRWA mandate. Thus, the aggregates differ from those published by the UNHCR.

Statistics concerning the former USSR have been reported under the Russian Federation, those concerning the former Czechoslovakia have been reported under the Czech Republic and those concerning the former Yugoslavia and 'Serbia and Montenegro' have been reported under Serbia. Since 2006, separate statistics are available for Serbia and for Montenegro. Prior to 2006, no separate statistics are available and both countries have been reported under Serbia.

Longdefinition: Refugees are people who are recognized as refugees under the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, the 1969 Organization of African Unity Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa, people recognized as refugees in accordance with the UNHCR statute, people granted refugee-like humanitarian status, and people provided temporary protection. Asylum seekers--people who have applied for asylum or refugee status and who have not yet received a decision or who are registered as asylum seekers--are excluded. Palestinian refugees are people (and their descendants) whose residence was Palestine between June 1946 and May 1948 and who lost their homes and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict. Country of origin generally refers to the nationality or country of citizenship of a claimant.

Source: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Refugee Data Finder at https://www.unhcr.org/refugee-statistics/.


Developmentrelevance:
Movement of people, most often through migration, is a significant part of global integration. Migrants contribute to the economies of both their host country and their country of origin. Yet reliable statistics on migration are difficult to collect and are often incomplete, making international comparisons a challenge.

Global migration patterns have become increasingly complex in modern times, involving not just refugees, but also millions of economic migrants. In most developed countries, refugees are admitted for resettlement and are routinely included in population counts by censuses or population registers. But refugees and migrants, even if they often travel in the same way, are fundamentally different, and for that reason are treated very differently under modern international law. Migrants, especially economic migrants, choose to move in order to improve the future prospects of themselves and their families. Refugees have to move if they are to save their lives or preserve their freedom.

IndicatorName: International migrant stock, total

Limitationsandexceptions:
In deriving the estimates, an international migrant was equated to a person living in a country other than that in which he or she was born. That is, the number of international migrants, also called the international migrant stock, would represent the number of foreign-born persons enumerated in the countries or areas constituting the world. However, because several countries lack data on the foreign-born, data on the number of foreigners, if available, were used instead as the basis of estimation. Consequently, the overall number of migrants in world regions or at the global level do not quite represent the overall number of foreign-born persons.

The disintegration and reunification of countries causes discontinuities in the change of the international migrant stock. Because an international migrant is equated with a person who was born outside the country in which he or she resides, when a country disintegrates, persons who had been internal migrants because they had moved from one part of the country to another may become, overnight, international migrants without having moved at that time. Such changes introduce artificial but unavoidable discontinuities in the trend of the international migrant stock. The reunification of States also introduces discontinuities, but in the opposite direction.

Longdefinition: International migrant stock is the number of people born in a country other than that in which they live. It also includes refugees. The data used to estimate the international migrant stock at a particular time are obtained mainly from population censuses. The estimates are derived from the data on foreign-born population--people who have residence in one country but were born in another country. When data on the foreign-born population are not available, data on foreign population--that is, people who are citizens of a country other than the country in which they reside--are used as estimates. After the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991 people living in one of the newly independent countries who were born in another were classified as international migrants. Estimates of migrant stock in the newly independent states from 1990 on are based on the 1989 census of the Soviet Union. For countries with information on the international migrant stock for at least two points in time, interpolation or extrapolation was used to estimate the international migrant stock on July 1 of the reference years. For countries with only one observation, estimates for the reference years were derived using rates of change in the migrant stock in the years preceding or following the single observation available. A model was used to estimate migrants for countries that had no data.

Shortdefinition: International migrant stock is the number of people born in a country other than that in which they live, including refugees.

Source: United Nations Population Division, Trends in Total Migrant Stock: 2012 Revision.

Statisticalconceptandmethodology:
The basic data to estimate the international migrant stock were obtained mostly from population censuses held during the decennial rounds of censuses. Some of the data used were obtained from population registers and nationally representative surveys.

In the majority of cases, the sources available had gathered information on the place of birth of the enumerated population, thus allowing for the identification of the foreign-born population. In estimating the international migrant stock, international migrants have been equated with the foreign-born whenever possible. In most countries lacking data on place of birth, information on the country of citizenship of those enumerated was available and was used as the basis for the identification of international migrants, thus effectively equating international migrants with foreign citizens.

Among the 230 countries or areas that constituted the world in 2008, 91 percent had at least one data source on the international migrant stock, and of those 78 percent used the number of foreign-born persons as the basis for estimation. For about 18 percent of the countries, the number of international migrants was based on data regarding foreign citizens. There were nine countries with no information including China, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Eritrea and Somalia.

For countries having information on the international migrant stock for at least two points in time, interpolation or extrapolation using an exponential growth rate was used to estimate the international migrant stock on 1 July of the reference years. In some instances, the estimates were adjusted on the basis of other relevant information, including the size of the total population in the country, to ensure that the proportion of migrants in small populations did not increase to unacceptable levels.

For all other countries with only one data source, estimates for the reference years were derived by assuming growth rates of the migrant stock in the years preceding or following the only data source available. For the nine countries or areas for which no information was available on the international migrant stock, a model, based on the general observation that the proportion of international migrants tends to be inversely related to the size of the total population, was used.

After the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991 people living in one of the newly independent countries who were born in another were classified as international migrants. Estimates of migrant stock in the newly independent states from 1990 on are based on the 1989 census of the Soviet Union.


Aggregationmethod: Weighted average

IndicatorName: International migrant stock (% of population)

Source: United Nations Population Division, Trends in Total Migrant Stock: 2008 Revision.


Developmentrelevance: Good nutrition is the cornerstone for survival, health and development. Well-nourished children perform better in school, grow into healthy adults and in turn give their children a better start in life. Well-nourished women face fewer risks during pregnancy and childbirth, and their children set off on firmer developmental paths, both physically and mentally (UNICEF www.childinfo.org).

Generalcomments: This is the Sustainable Development Goal indicator 2.1.1[https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/].

IndicatorName: Prevalence of undernourishment (% of population)

Limitationsandexceptions: From a policy and program standpoint, this measure has its limits. First, food insecurity exists even where food availability is not a problem because of inadequate access of poor households to food. Second, food insecurity is an individual or household phenomenon, and the average food available to each person, even corrected for possible effects of low income, is not a good predictor of food insecurity among the population. And third, nutrition security is determined not only by food security but also by the quality of care of mothers and children and the quality of the household's health environment (Smith and Haddad 2000).

Longdefinition: Prevalence of undernourishments is the percentage of the population whose habitual food consumption is insufficient to provide the dietary energy levels that are required to maintain a normal active and healthy life. Data showing as 2.5 may signify a prevalence of undernourishment below 2.5%.

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization (http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#home).

Statisticalconceptandmethodology: Data on undernourishment are from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and measure food deprivation based on average food available for human consumption per person, the level of inequality in access to food, and the minimum calories required for an average person.

Topic: Health: Nutrition


Developmentrelevance:
Food insecurity at moderate levels of severity is typically associated with the inability to regularly eat healthy, balanced diets. As such, high prevalence of food insecurity at moderate levels can be considered a predictor of various forms of diet-related health conditions in the population, associated with micronutrient deficiency and unbalanced diets. Severe levels of food insecurity, on the other hand, imply a high probability of reduced food intake and therefore can lead to more severe forms of undernutrition, including hunger. FAO has identified the FIES as the tool with the greatest potential for becoming a global standard capable of providing comparable information on food insecurity experience across countries and population groups to track progress on reducing food insecurity and
hunger

IndicatorName: Prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity in the population (%)

Longdefinition: The percentage of people in the population who live in households classified as moderately or severely food insecure. A household is classified as moderately or severely food insecure when at least one adult in the household has reported to have been exposed, at times during the year, to low quality diets and might have been forced to also reduce the quantity of food they would normally eat because of a lack of money or other resources.

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

Statisticalconceptandmethodology: The assessment is conducted using data collected with the Food Insecurity Experience Scale or a compatible experience-based food security measurement questionnaire (such as the HFSSM). The probability to be food insecure is estimated using the one-parameter logistic Item Response Theory model (the Rasch model) and thresholds for classification are made cross country comparable by calibrating the metrics obtained in each country against the FIES global reference scale, maintained by FAO. The threshold to classify "moderate or severe" food insecurity corresponds to the severity associated with the item "having to eat less" on the global FIES scale. It is an indicator of lack of food access.The indicator is calculated as an average over 3 years (eg. data for 2015 is the average of 2014-2016 data).

Topic: Health


Developmentrelevance:
Iodine deficiency can lead to a variety of health and developmental consequences known as iodine deficiency disorders (IDDs). Iodine deficiency is a major cause of preventable mental retardation. It is especially damaging during pregnancy and in early childhood. In their most severe forms, IDDs can lead to cretinism, stillbirth and miscarriage; even mild deficiency can cause a significant loss of learning ability.  Thus, it is crucially important that pregnant women and young children in particular get adequate levels of iodine.
IDD can easily be prevented at low cost, however, with small quantities of iodine. One of the best and least expensive methods of preventing iodine deficiency disorder is by simply iodizing table salt, which is currently done in many countries. It represents one of the easiest and most cost-effective interventions for social and economic development.

Generalcomments: Iodine deficiency is the single most important cause of preventable mental retardation, contributes significantly to the risk of stillbirth and miscarriage, and increases the incidence of infant mortality. A diet low in iodine is the main cause of iodine deficiency. It usually occurs among populations living in areas where the soil has been depleted of iodine. If soil is deficient in iodine, then so are the plants grown in it, including the grains and vegetables that people and animals consume. There are almost no countries in the world where iodine deficiency has not been a public health problem. Many newborns in low- and middle-income countries remain unprotected from the lifelong consequences of brain damage associated with iodine deficiency disorders, which affect a child's ability to learn and to earn a living as an adult, and in turn prevents children, communities, and countries from fulfilling their potential (UNICEF, www.childinfo.org). Widely used and inexpensive, iodized salt is the best source of iodine, and a global campaign to iodize edible salt is significantly reducing the risks associated with iodine deficiency.

IndicatorName: Consumption of iodized salt (% of households)

Longdefinition: Percentage of households which have salt they used for cooking that tested positive (>0ppm) for presence of iodine.

Source: United Nations Children's Fund, Division of Data, Analysis, Planning and Monitoring (2019). UNICEF Global Databases on Iodized salt, New York, June 2019

Statisticalconceptandmethodology: Most of the data on consumption of iodized salt are derived from household surveys. For the data that are from household surveys, the year refers to the survey year.


IndicatorName: Prevalence of severe food insecurity in the population (%)

Longdefinition: The percentage of people in the population who live in households classified as severely food insecure. A household is classified as severely food insecure when at least one adult in the household has reported to have been exposed, at times during the year, to several of the most severe experiences described in the FIES questions, such as to have been forced to reduce the quantity of the food, to have skipped meals, having gone hungry, or having to go for a whole day without eating because of a lack of money or other resources.

Statisticalconceptandmethodology: The assessment is conducted using data collected with the Food Insecurity Experience Scale or a compatible experience-based food security measurement questionnaire (such as the HFSSM). The probability to be food insecure is estimated using the one-parameter logistic Item Response Theory model (the Rasch model) and thresholds for classification are made cross country comparable by calibrating the metrics obtained in each country against the FIES global reference scale, maintained by FAO. The threshold to classify "severe" food insecurity corresponds to the severity associated with the item "having not eaten for an entire day" on the global FIES scale. It is an indicator of lack of food access.The indicator is calculated as an average over 3 years (eg. data for 2015 is the average of 2014-2016 data).


Generalcomments: Vitamin A is essential for optimal functioning of the immune system. Vitamin A deficiency, a leading cause of blindness, also causes a greater risk of dying from a range of childhood ailments such as measles, malaria, and diarrhea. In low- and middle-income countries, where vitamin A is consumed largely in fruits and vegetables, daily per capita intake is often insufficient to meet dietary requirements. Providing young children with two high-dose vitamin A capsules a year is a safe, cost-effective, efficient strategy for eliminating vitamin A deficiency and improving child survival. Giving vitamin A to new breastfeeding mothers helps protect their children during the first few months of life. Food fortification with vitamin A is being introduced in many developing countries.

IndicatorName: Vitamin A supplementation coverage rate (% of children ages 6-59 months)

Longdefinition: Vitamin A supplementation coverage rate refers to the percentage of children ages 6-59 months old receiving two high-dose vitamin A supplements in a calendar year.

Notesfromoriginalsource: Only UNICEF's current vitamin A supplementation priority countries for national level programmes are included.

Source: UNICEF global databases, based on administrative reports from countries (link: https://data.unicef.org/topic/nutrition/vitamin-a-deficiency/)


Generalcomments: This is the Sustainable Development Goal indicator 3.7.2 [https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/].

IndicatorName: Adolescent fertility rate (births per 1,000 women ages 15-19)

Longdefinition: Adolescent fertility rate is the number of births per 1,000 women ages 15-19.

Source: United Nations Population Division, World Population Prospects.

Statisticalconceptandmethodology:
Reproductive health is a state of physical and mental well-being in relation to the reproductive system and its functions and processes. Means of achieving reproductive health include education and services during pregnancy and childbirth, safe and effective contraception, and prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases. Complications of pregnancy and childbirth are the leading cause of death and disability among women of reproductive age in developing countries.

Adolescent fertility rates are based on data on registered live births from vital registration systems or, in the absence of such systems, from censuses or sample surveys. The estimated rates are generally considered reliable measures of fertility in the recent past. Where no empirical information on age-specific fertility rates is available, a model is used to estimate the share of births to adolescents. For countries without vital registration systems fertility rates are generally based on extrapolations from trends observed in censuses or surveys from earlier years.

Topic: Health: Reproductive health


Developmentrelevance: Mortality rates for different age groups (infants, children, and adults) and overall mortality indicators (life expectancy at birth or survival to a given age) are important indicators of health status in a country. Because data on the incidence and prevalence of diseases are frequently unavailable, mortality rates are often used to identify vulnerable populations. And they are among the indicators most frequently used to compare socioeconomic development across countries.

IndicatorName: Mortality rate, adult, female (per 1,000 female adults)

Longdefinition: Adult mortality rate, female, is the probability of dying between the ages of 15 and 60--that is, the probability of a 15-year-old female dying before reaching age 60, if subject to age-specific mortality rates of the specified year between those ages.

Source: (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects: 2022 Revision. (2) HMD. Human Mortality Database. Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (Germany), University of California, Berkeley (USA), and French Institute for Demographic Studies (France). Available at www.mortality.org.

Statisticalconceptandmethodology: The main sources of mortality data are vital registration systems and direct or indirect estimates based on sample surveys or censuses. A "complete" vital registration system - covering at least 90 percent of vital events in the population - is the best source of age-specific mortality data. Where reliable age-specific mortality data are available, life tables can be constructed from age-specific mortality data, and adult mortality rates can be calculated from life tables.

Topic: Health: Mortality


IndicatorName: Mortality rate, adult, male (per 1,000 male adults)

Longdefinition: Adult mortality rate, male, is the probability of dying between the ages of 15 and 60--that is, the probability of a 15-year-old male dying before reaching age 60, if subject to age-specific mortality rates of the specified year between those ages.


IndicatorName: Birth rate, crude (per 1,000 people)

Limitationsandexceptions: Vital registers are the preferred source for these data, but in many developing countries systems for registering births and deaths are absent or incomplete because of deficiencies in the coverage of events or geographic areas. Many developing countries carry out special household surveys that ask respondents about recent births and deaths. Estimates derived in this way are subject to sampling errors and recall errors.

Longdefinition: Crude birth rate indicates the number of live births occurring during the year, per 1,000 population estimated at midyear. Subtracting the crude death rate from the crude birth rate provides the rate of natural increase, which is equal to the rate of population change in the absence of migration.

Shortdefinition: Crude birth rate indicates the number of live births per 1,000 midyear population.

Source: (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects: 2022 Revision; (2) Statistical databases and publications from national statistical offices; (3) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics; (4) United Nations Statistics Division. Population and Vital Statistics Reprot (various years).

Statisticalconceptandmethodology:
The crude birth rate is calculated as the number of births in a given period divided by the average population in that period. For human populations the period is usually one year and, if the population changes in size over the year, the divisor is taken as the population at the mid-year. The rate is usually expressed in terms of 1,000 people: for example, a crude birth rate of 9.5 (per 1000 people) in a population of 1 million would imply 9500 births per year in the entire population. Subtracting the crude death rate from the crude birth rate provides the rate of natural increase, which is equal to the rate of population change in the absence of migration.

Vital rates are based on data from birth and death registration systems, censuses, and sample surveys by national statistical offices and other organizations, or on demographic analysis. Data for the most recent year for some high-income countries are provisional estimates based on vital registers. The estimates for many other countries are from the United Nations Population Division.

Topic: Health: Population: Dynamics


Developmentrelevance: The crude death rate is a good indicator of the general health status of a geographic area or population. The crude death rate is not appropriate for comparison of different populations or areas with large differences in age-distributions. Higher crude death rates can be found in some developed countries, despite high life expectancy, because typically these countries have a much higher proportion of older people, due to lower recent birth rates and lower age-specific mortality rates.

IndicatorName: Death rate, crude (per 1,000 people)

Longdefinition: Crude death rate indicates the number of deaths occurring during the year, per 1,000 population estimated at midyear. Subtracting the crude death rate from the crude birth rate provides the rate of natural increase, which is equal to the rate of population change in the absence of migration.

Shortdefinition: Crude death rate indicates the number of deaths per 1,000 midyear population.

Statisticalconceptandmethodology:
The crude death rate is calculated as the number of deaths in a given period divided by the population exposed to risk of death in that period. For human populations the period is usually one year and, if the population changes in size over the year, the divisor is taken as the population at the mid-year. The rate is usually expressed in terms of 1,000 people: for example, a crude death rate of 9.5 (per 1000 people) in a population of 1 million would imply 9500 deaths per year in the entire population. Subtracting the crude death rate from the crude birth rate provides the rate of natural increase, which is equal to the rate of population change in the absence of migration.

Vital rates are based on data from birth and death registration systems, censuses, and sample surveys by national statistical offices and other organizations, or on demographic analysis. Data for the most recent year for some high-income countries are provisional estimates based on vital registers. The estimates for many other countries are from the United Nations Population Division.


Developmentrelevance:
Contraceptive prevalence among women of reproductive age is related to maternal and child health, as well as gender equality and HIV/AIDS.   Contraceptives enable women and men to make informed decisions on family planning – whether, when, and how many children they would have.

Preventing unwanted pregnancies is essential to reducing maternal deaths, especially in low- and middle- income countries where maternal mortality rate is high.  With effective contraception, life-threatening pregnancy complications can be reduced, and thus maternal deaths can be averted.

Using condoms (one of the modern contraceptive methods) can prevent pregnancy as well as sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV.

IndicatorName: Contraceptive prevalence, any modern method (% of married women ages 15-49)

Limitationsandexceptions:
While the data availability on contraceptive use has increased, in many countries the contraceptive use data are available only for married women.

The time frame used to assess contraceptive prevalence may vary. In many surveys, it is left to the respondent to determine what is meant by “currently using” a method of contraception.

Longdefinition: Contraceptive prevalence, any modern method is the percentage of married women ages 15-49 who are practicing, or whose sexual partners are practicing, at least one modern method of contraception.  Modern methods of contraception include female and male sterilization, oral hormonal pills, the intra-uterine device (IUD), the male condom, injectables, the implant (including Norplant), vaginal barrier methods, the female condom and emergency contraception.

Othernotes: As of December 2021, for better consistency the contraceptive prevalence data only for currently married women or in union are included in this indicator. It means the data for the following categories are excluded from this indicator: ever-married women; all women; sexually active women; which data may have been included in this indicator before December 2021. In response to this, two new contraceptive prevalence indicators (any method and any modern method) for sexually active unmarried women 15-49 are added to the HealthStats database. https://databank.worldbank.org/source/health-nutrition-and-population-statistics

Source: Household surveys, including Demographic and Health Surveys and Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys. Largely compiled by United Nations Population Division.

Statisticalconceptandmethodology:
Contraceptive prevalence rates are obtained mainly from nationally representative household surveys, including: Demographic and Health Surveys; Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys; Contraceptive Prevalence Surveys; Gender and Generations Survey; Reproductive Health Surveys; and World Fertility Surveys.  Additional information was provided by other international survey programs and national surveys.

Married women refer to women who are married (defined in relation to the marriage laws or customs of a country) and to women in a union, which refers to women living with their partner in the same household (also referred to as cohabiting unions, consensual unions, unmarried unions, or “living together”).


IndicatorName: Contraceptive prevalence, any method (% of married women ages 15-49)

Longdefinition: Contraceptive prevalence, any method is the percentage of married women ages 15-49 who are practicing, or whose sexual partners are practicing, any method of contraception (modern or traditional). Modern methods of contraception include female and male sterilization, oral hormonal pills, the intra-uterine device (IUD), the male condom, injectables, the implant (including Norplant), vaginal barrier methods, the female condom and emergency contraception. Traditional methods of contraception include rhythm (e.g., fertility awareness based methods, periodic abstinence), withdrawal and other traditional methods.


Generalcomments:
Given that data on the incidence and prevalence of diseases are frequently unavailable, mortality rates are often used to identify vulnerable populations. Moreover, they are among the indicators most frequently used to compare socioeconomic development across countries. Under-five mortality rates are higher for boys than for girls in countries in which parental gender preferences are insignificant. Under-five mortality captures the effect of gender discrimination better than infant mortality does, as malnutrition and medical interventions have more significant impacts to this age group. Where female under-five mortality is higher, girls are likely to have less access to resources than boys.

Aggregate data for LIC, UMC, LMC, HIC are computed based on the groupings for the World Bank fiscal year in which the data was released by the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation.

IndicatorName: Mortality rate, infant, female (per 1,000 live births)

Limitationsandexceptions: Complete vital registration systems are fairly uncommon in developing countries. Thus estimates must be obtained from sample surveys or derived by applying indirect estimation techniques to registration, census, or survey data. Survey data are subject to recall error, and surveys estimating infant/child deaths require large samples because households in which a birth has occurred during a given year cannot ordinarily be preselected for sampling. Indirect estimates rely on model life tables that may be inappropriate for the population concerned. Extrapolations based on outdated surveys may not be reliable for monitoring changes in health status or for comparative analytical work.

Longdefinition: Infant mortality rate, female is the number of female infants dying before reaching one year of age, per 1,000 female live births in a given year.

Source: Estimates developed by the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UNICEF, WHO, World Bank, UN DESA Population Division) at www.childmortality.org.

Statisticalconceptandmethodology:
The main sources of mortality data are vital registration systems and direct or indirect estimates based on sample surveys or censuses. A "complete" vital registration system - covering at least 90 percent of vital events in the population - is the best source of age-specific mortality data.

Estimates of neonatal, infant, and child mortality tend to vary by source and method for a given time and place. Years for available estimates also vary by country, making comparisons across countries and over time difficult. To make neonatal, infant, and child mortality estimates comparable and to ensure consistency across estimates by different agencies, the United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME), which comprises the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Bank, the United Nations Population Division, and other universities and research institutes, developed and adopted a statistical method that uses all available information to reconcile differences. The method uses statistical models to obtain a best estimate trend line by fitting a country-specific regression model of mortality rates against their reference dates.


IndicatorName: Mortality rate, infant (per 1,000 live births)

Longdefinition: Infant mortality rate is the number of infants dying before reaching one year of age, per 1,000 live births in a given year.


IndicatorName: Mortality rate, infant, male (per 1,000 live births)

Longdefinition: Infant mortality rate, male is the number of male infants dying before reaching one year of age, per 1,000 male live births in a given year.


IndicatorName: Life expectancy at birth, female (years)

Longdefinition: Life expectancy at birth indicates the number of years a newborn infant would live if prevailing patterns of mortality at the time of its birth were to stay the same throughout its life.

Source: (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects: 2022 Revision; (2) Statistical databases and publications from national statistical offices; (3) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics.

Statisticalconceptandmethodology:
Life expectancy at birth used here is the average number of years a newborn is expected to live if mortality patterns at the time of its birth remain constant in the future. It reflects the overall mortality level of a population, and summarizes the mortality pattern that prevails across all age groups in a given year. It is calculated in a period life table which provides a snapshot of a population's mortality pattern at a given time. It therefore does not reflect the mortality pattern that a person actually experiences during his/her life, which can be calculated in a cohort life table.

High mortality in young age groups significantly lowers the life expectancy at birth. But if a person survives his/her childhood of high mortality, he/she may live much longer. For example, in a population with a life expectancy at birth of 50, there may be few people dying at age 50. The life expectancy at birth may be low due to the high childhood mortality so that once a person survives his/her childhood, he/she may live much longer than 50 years.


IndicatorName: Life expectancy at birth, total (years)

Source: (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects: 2022 Revision; or derived from male and female life expectancy at birth from sources such as: (2) Statistical databases and publications from national statistical offices; (3) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics.


IndicatorName: Life expectancy at birth, male (years)


Developmentrelevance: Reproductive health is a state of physical and mental well-being in relation to the reproductive system and its functions and processes. Means of achieving reproductive health include education and services during pregnancy and childbirth, safe and effective contraception, and prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases. Complications of pregnancy and childbirth are the leading cause of death and disability among women of reproductive age in developing countries.

Generalcomments: Relevance to gender indicator: it can indicate the status of women within households and a woman’s decision about the number and spacing of children.

IndicatorName: Fertility rate, total (births per woman)

Longdefinition: Total fertility rate represents the number of children that would be born to a woman if she were to live to the end of her childbearing years and bear children in accordance with age-specific fertility rates of the specified year.

Statisticalconceptandmethodology: Total fertility rates are based on data on registered live births from vital registration systems or, in the absence of such systems, from censuses or sample surveys. The estimated rates are generally considered reliable measures of fertility in the recent past. Where no empirical information on age-specific fertility rates is available, a model is used to estimate the share of births to adolescents. For countries without reliable vital registration systems fertility rates are generally based on extrapolations from trends observed in censuses or surveys from earlier years.


IndicatorName: Survival to age 65, female (% of cohort)

Longdefinition: Survival to age 65 refers to the percentage of a cohort of newborn infants that would survive to age 65, if subject to age specific mortality rates of the specified year.


IndicatorName: Survival to age 65, male (% of cohort)


IndicatorName: Wanted fertility rate (births per woman)

Longdefinition: Wanted fertility rate is an estimate of what the total fertility rate would be if all unwanted births were avoided.

Source: Demographic and Health Surveys.


Developmentrelevance: The household is regarded as the fundamental social and economic unit of society. Transformation at the household form, therefore, has impact at the aggregate level of a country. An increasing number of female-headed households (FHHs) in developing countries are emerging as a result of economic changes, economic downturns and social pressures, rather than as a product of cultural patterns. In many developing countries of Asia and Latin American, there has been a significant increase in the percentage of FHHs. The majority of women in FHHs in developing countries are widowed, and to a lesser extent divorced or separated. In the developed countries most female-headed households consist of women who are never married or who are divorced. The feminization of poverty - the process whereby poverty becomes more concentrated among Individuals living in female-headed households - is a key concept for describing FHH social and economic levels.

Generalcomments: The composition of a household plays a role in the determining other characteristics of a household, such as how many children are sent to school and the distribution of family income.

IndicatorName: Female headed households (% of households with a female head)

Limitationsandexceptions: The definition of female-headed household differs greatly across countries, making cross-country comparison difficult. In some cases it is assumed that a woman cannot be the head of any household with an adult male, because of sex-biased stereotype. Caution should be used in interpreting the data.

Longdefinition: Female headed households shows the percentage of households with a female head.


Developmentrelevance: Although the legal age of marriage is defined as 18 years in most countries, the practice of child marriage remains widespread.  A women’s access to education and later her employment opportunities as well as the nature and terms of her work are often compromised by this practice.  Young married girls whose schooling is cut short often lack the knowledge and skills for formal work and are limited to occupations with lower incomes and inferior working conditions.  Sustainable Development Goal 5 commits to eliminate the practice of child marriage.

Generalcomments: This is the Sustainable Development Goal indicator 5.3.1[https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/].

IndicatorName: Women who were first married by age 15 (% of women ages 20-24)

Longdefinition: Women who were first married by age 15 refers to the percentage of women ages 20-24 who were first married by age 15.

Source: UNICEF Data; Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS), AIDS Indicator Surveys(AIS), Reproductive Health Survey(RHS), and other household surveys.

Topic: Gender: Agency


IndicatorName: Women who were first married by age 18 (% of women ages 20-24)

Longdefinition: Women who were first married by age 18 refers to the percentage of women ages 20-24 who were first married by age 18.


Developmentrelevance: Having a child during the teenage years limits girls' opportunities for better education, jobs, and income. Pregnancy is more likely to be unintended during the teenage years, and births are more likely to be premature and are associated with greater risks of complications during delivery and of death. In many countries maternal mortality is a leading cause of death among women of reproductive age, although most of those deaths are preventable. Infants of adolescent mothers are also more likely to have low birth weight, which can have a long-term impact on their health and development. Complications from pregnancy and childbirth are the leading cause of death among girls aged 15-19 years in many low- and middle-income countries.

IndicatorName: Teenage mothers (% of women ages 15-19 who have had children or are currently pregnant)

Longdefinition: Teenage mothers are the percentage of women ages 15-19 who already have children or are currently pregnant.


IndicatorName: Population ages 00-04, female (% of female population)

Longdefinition: Female population between the ages 0 to 4 as a percentage of the total female population.

Source: United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects: 2024 Revision.

Topic: Health: Population: Structure


IndicatorName: Population ages 00-04, male (% of male population)

Longdefinition: Male population between the ages 0 to 4 as a percentage of the total male population.


Generalcomments: Relevance to gender indicator: Knowing how many girls, adolescents and women there are in a population helps a country in determining its provision of services.

IndicatorName: Population ages 0-14, female

Longdefinition: Female population between the ages 0 to 14. Population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship.

Source: World Bank staff estimates using the World Bank's total population and age/sex distributions of the United Nations Population Division's World Population Prospects: 2024 Revision.


IndicatorName: Population ages 0-14, female (% of female population)

Longdefinition: Female population between the ages 0 to 14 as a percentage of the total female population. Population is based on the de facto definition of population.


IndicatorName: Population ages 0-14, male

Longdefinition: Male population between the ages 0 to 14. Population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship.


IndicatorName: Population ages 0-14, male (% of male population)

Longdefinition: Male population between the ages 0 to 14 as a percentage of the total male population. Population is based on the de facto definition of population.


IndicatorName: Population ages 0-14, total

Longdefinition: Total population between the ages 0 to 14. Population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship.


Developmentrelevance:
Patterns of development in a country are partly determined by the age composition of its population. Different age groups have different impacts on both the environment and on infrastructure needs.  Therefore the age structure of a population is useful for analyzing resource use and formulating future policy and planning goals  with regards infrastructure and development.

This indicator is used for calculating age dependency ratio (percent of working-age population). The age dependency ratio is the ratio of the sum of the population aged 0-14 and the population aged 65 and above to the population aged 15-64. In many developing countries, the once rapidly growing population group of the under-15 population is shrinking. As a result, high fertility rates, together with declining mortality rates, are now reflected in the larger share of the 65 and older population.

IndicatorName: Population ages 0-14 (% of total population)

Longdefinition: Population between the ages 0 to 14 as a percentage of the total population. Population is based on the de facto definition of population.

Statisticalconceptandmethodology:
Age structure in the World Bank's population estimates is based on the age structure in United Nations Population Division's World Population Prospects. For more information, see the original source.

Total population is based on the de facto population including all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship. The values shown are midyear estimates. For more information see metadata for total population (SP.POP.TOTL).


IndicatorName: Population ages 05-09, female (% of female population)

Longdefinition: Female population between the ages 5 to 9 as a percentage of the total female population.


IndicatorName: Population ages 05-09, male (% of male population)

Longdefinition: Male population between the ages 5 to 9 as a percentage of the total male population.


IndicatorName: Population ages 10-14, female (% of female population)

Longdefinition: Female population between the ages 10 to 14 as a percentage of the total female population.


IndicatorName: Population ages 10-14, male (% of male population)

Longdefinition: Male population between the ages 10 to 14 as a percentage of the total male population.


IndicatorName: Population ages 15-19, female (% of female population)

Longdefinition: Female population between the ages 15 to 19 as a percentage of the total female population.


IndicatorName: Population ages 15-19, male (% of male population)

Longdefinition: Male population between the ages 15 to 19 as a percentage of the total male population.


IndicatorName: Population ages 15-64, female

Longdefinition: Female population between the ages 15 to 64. Population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship.


IndicatorName: Population ages 15-64, female (% of female population)

Longdefinition: Female population between the ages 15 to 64 as a percentage of the total female population. Population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship.


IndicatorName: Population ages 15-64, male

Longdefinition: Male population between the ages 15 to 64. Population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship.


IndicatorName: Population ages 15-64, male (% of male population)

Longdefinition: Male population between the ages 15 to 64 as a percentage of the total male population. Population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship.


IndicatorName: Population ages 15-64, total

Longdefinition: Total population between the ages 15 to 64. Population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship.


IndicatorName: Population ages 15-64 (% of total population)

Longdefinition: Total population between the ages 15 to 64 as a percentage of the total population. Population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship.


IndicatorName: Population ages 20-24, female (% of female population)

Longdefinition: Female population between the ages 20 to 24 as a percentage of the total female population.


IndicatorName: Population ages 20-24, male (% of male population)

Longdefinition: Male population between the ages 20 to 24 as a percentage of the total male population.


IndicatorName: Population ages 25-29, female (% of female population)

Longdefinition: Female population between the ages 25 to 29 as a percentage of the total female population.


IndicatorName: Population ages 25-29, male (% of male population)

Longdefinition: Male population between the ages 25 to 29 as a percentage of the total male population.


IndicatorName: Population ages 30-34, female (% of female population)

Longdefinition: Female population between the ages 30 to 34 as a percentage of the total female population.


IndicatorName: Population ages 30-34, male (% of male population)

Longdefinition: Male population between the ages 30 to 34 as a percentage of the total male population.


IndicatorName: Population ages 35-39, female (% of female population)

Longdefinition: Female population between the ages 35 to 39 as a percentage of the total female population.


IndicatorName: Population ages 35-39, male (% of male population)

Longdefinition: Male population between the ages 35 to 39 as a percentage of the total male population.


IndicatorName: Population ages 40-44, female (% of female population)

Longdefinition: Female population between the ages 40 to 44 as a percentage of the total female population.


IndicatorName: Population ages 40-44, male (% of male population)

Longdefinition: Male population between the ages 40 to 44 as a percentage of the total male population.


IndicatorName: Population ages 45-49, female (% of female population)

Longdefinition: Female population between the ages 45 to 49 as a percentage of the total female population.


IndicatorName: Population ages 45-49, male (% of male population)

Longdefinition: Male population between the ages 45 to 49 as a percentage of the total male population.


IndicatorName: Population ages 50-54, female (% of female population)

Longdefinition: Female population between the ages 50 to 54 as a percentage of the total female population.


IndicatorName: Population ages 50-54, male (% of male population)

Longdefinition: Male population between the ages 50 to 54 as a percentage of the total male population.


IndicatorName: Population ages 55-59, female (% of female population)

Longdefinition: Female population between the ages 55 to 59 as a percentage of the total female population.


IndicatorName: Population ages 55-59, male (% of male population)

Longdefinition: Male population between the ages 55 to 59 as a percentage of the total male population.


IndicatorName: Population ages 60-64, female (% of female population)

Longdefinition: Female population between the ages 60 to 64 as a percentage of the total female population.


IndicatorName: Population ages 60-64, male (% of male population)

Longdefinition: Male population between the ages 60 to 64 as a percentage of the total male population.


IndicatorName: Population ages 65-69, female (% of female population)

Longdefinition: Female population between the ages 65 to 69 as a percentage of the total female population.


IndicatorName: Population ages 65-69, male (% of male population)

Longdefinition: Male population between the ages 65 to 69 as a percentage of the total male population.


IndicatorName: Population ages 65 and above, female

Longdefinition: Female population 65 years of age or older. Population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship.


IndicatorName: Population ages 65 and above, female (% of female population)

Longdefinition: Female population 65 years of age or older as a percentage of the total female population. Population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship.


IndicatorName: Population ages 65 and above, male

Longdefinition: Male population 65 years of age or older. Population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship.


IndicatorName: Population ages 65 and above, male (% of male population)

Longdefinition: Male population 65 years of age or older as a percentage of the total male population. Population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship.


IndicatorName: Population ages 65 and above, total

Longdefinition: Total population 65 years of age or older. Population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship.


IndicatorName: Population ages 65 and above (% of total population)

Longdefinition: Population ages 65 and above as a percentage of the total population. Population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship.

Statisticalconceptandmethodology: Age structure in the World Bank's population estimates is based on the age structure in United Nations Population Division's World Population Prospects. For more information, see the original source. Total population is based on the de facto population including all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship. The values shown are midyear estimates. For more information see metadata for total population (SP.POP.TOTL).


IndicatorName: Population ages 70-74, female (% of female population)

Longdefinition: Female population between the ages 70 to 74 as a percentage of the total female population.


IndicatorName: Population ages 70-74, male (% of male population)

Longdefinition: Male population between the ages 70 to 74 as a percentage of the total male population.


IndicatorName: Population ages 75-79, female (% of female population)

Longdefinition: Female population between the ages 75 to 79 as a percentage of the total female population.


IndicatorName: Population ages 75-79, male (% of male population)

Longdefinition: Male population between the ages 75 to 79 as a percentage of the total male population.


IndicatorName: Population ages 80 and above, female (% of female population)

Longdefinition: Female population between the ages 80 and above as a percentage of the total female population.


IndicatorName: Population ages 80 and above, male (% of male population)

Longdefinition: Male population between the ages 80 and above as a percentage of the total male population.


IndicatorName: Sex ratio at birth (male births per female births)

Longdefinition: Sex ratio at birth refers to male births per female births.


Developmentrelevance: Patterns of development in a country are partly determined by the age composition of its population. Different age groups have different impacts on both the environment and on infrastructure needs.  Therefore the age structure of a population is useful for analyzing resource use and formulating future policy and planning goals  with regards infrastructure and development.

Generalcomments: Relevance to gender indicator: this indicator implies the dependency burden that the working-age population bears in relation to children and the elderly. Many times single or widowed women who are the sole caregiver of a household have a high dependency ratio.

IndicatorName: Age dependency ratio (% of working-age population)

Longdefinition: Age dependency ratio is the ratio of dependents--people younger than 15 or older than 64--to the working-age population--those ages 15-64. Data are shown as the proportion of dependents per 100 working-age population.

Source: World Bank staff estimates based on age distributions of United Nations Population Division's World Population Prospects: 2024 Revision.

Statisticalconceptandmethodology:
Dependency ratios capture variations in the proportions of children, elderly people, and working-age people in the population that imply the dependency burden that the working-age population bears in relation to children and the elderly. But dependency ratios show only the age composition of a population, not economic dependency. Some children and elderly people are part of the labor force, and many working-age people are not.

Age structure in the World Bank's population estimates is based on the age structure in United Nations Population Division's World Population Prospects. For more information, see the original source.


IndicatorName: Age dependency ratio, old (% of working-age population)

Longdefinition: Age dependency ratio, old, is the ratio of older dependents--people older than 64--to the working-age population--those ages 15-64. Data are shown as the proportion of dependents per 100 working-age population.


IndicatorName: Age dependency ratio, young (% of working-age population)

Longdefinition: Age dependency ratio, young, is the ratio of younger dependents--people younger than 15--to the working-age population--those ages 15-64. Data are shown as the proportion of dependents per 100 working-age population.


IndicatorName: Population growth (annual %)

Longdefinition: Annual population growth rate for year t is the exponential rate of growth of midyear population from year t-1 to t, expressed as a percentage . Population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship.

Shortdefinition: Annual population growth rate. Population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship.

Source: Derived from total population. Population source: (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects: 2024 Revision; (2) Statistical databases and publications from national statistical offices; (3) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics; (4) United Nations Statistics Division. Population and Vital Statistics Report (various years).

Statisticalconceptandmethodology:
Total population growth rates are calculated on the assumption that rate of growth is constant between two points in time. The growth rate is computed using the exponential growth formula:

r = ln(pn/p0)/n,

where r is the exponential rate of growth, ln() is the natural logarithm, pn is the end period population, p0 is the beginning period population, and n is the number of years in between. Note that this is not the geometric growth rate used to compute compound growth over discrete periods.

For information on total population from which the growth rates are calculated, see total population (SP.POP.TOTL).


IndicatorName: Researchers in R&D (per million people)

Limitationsandexceptions: Estimates of the resources allocated to R&D are affected by national characteristics such as the periodicity and coverage of national R&D surveys across institutional sectors and industries; and the use of different sampling and estimation methods. R&D typically involves a few large performers, hence R&D surveys use various techniques to maintain up-to-date registers of known performers, while attempting to identify new or occasional performers.

Longdefinition: The number of researchers engaged in Research &Development (R&D), expressed as per million. Researchers are professionals who conduct research and improve or develop concepts, theories, models techniques instrumentation, software of operational methods. R&D covers basic research, applied research, and experimental development.

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). UIS.Stat Bulk Data Download Service. Accessed September 30, 2024. https://apiportal.uis.unesco.org/bdds.

Statisticalconceptandmethodology:
Researchers are professionals engaged in the conception or creation of new knowledge, products, processes, methods and systems, as well as in the management of these projects. Students studying at the master’s or doctoral level (ISCED2011 level 7 or 8) engaged in R&D are included.

The OECD's Frascati Manual defines research and experimental development as "creative work undertaken on a systemic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of man, culture and society, and the use of this stock of knowledge to devise new applications." R&D covers basic research, applied research, and experimental development.

(1) Basic research - Basic research is experimental or theoretical work undertaken primarily to acquire new knowledge of the underlying foundation of phenomena and observable facts, without any particular application or use in view.

(2) Applied research - Applied research is also original investigation undertaken in order to acquire new knowledge; it is, however, directed primarily towards a specific practical aim or objective.

(3) Experimental development - Experimental development is systematic work, drawing on existing knowledge gained from research and/or practical experience, which is directed to producing new materials, products or devices, to installing new processes, systems and services, or to improving substantially those already produced or installed.

The fields of science and technology used to classify R&D according to the Revised Fields of Science and Technology Classification are:
1. Natural sciences;
2. Engineering and technology;
3. Medical and health sciences;
4. Agricultural sciences;
5. Social sciences;
6. Humanities and the arts.

Data are for full-time equivalent (FTE); the FTE of R&D personnel is defined as the ratio of working hours actually spent on R&D during a specific reference period (usually a calendar year) divided by the total number of hours conventionally worked in the same period by an individual or by a group.

The data are obtained through statistical surveys which are regularly conducted at national level covering R&D performing entities in the private and public sectors.

Topic: Infrastructure: Technology


IndicatorName: Technicians in R&D (per million people)

Longdefinition: The number of technicians participated in Research & Development (R&D), expressed as per million. Technicians and equivalent staff are people who perform scientific and technical tasks involving the application of concepts and operational methods, normally under the supervision of researchers. R&D covers basic research, applied research, and experimental development.

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (http://uis.unesco.org/). Data as of March 2021.

Statisticalconceptandmethodology:
Technicians in research and development (R&D) are persons whose main tasks require technical knowledge and experience in one or more fields of engineering, physical and life sciences, or social sciences and humanities.

The OECD's Frascati Manual defines research and experimental development as "creative work undertaken on a systemic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of man, culture and society, and the use of this stock of knowledge to devise new applications." R&D covers basic research, applied research, and experimental development.

(1) Basic research - Basic research is experimental or theoretical work undertaken primarily to acquire new knowledge of the underlying foundation of phenomena and observable facts, without any particular application or use in view.

(2) Applied research - Applied research is also original investigation undertaken in order to acquire new knowledge; it is, however, directed primarily towards a specific practical aim or objective.

(3) Experimental development - Experimental development is systematic work, drawing on existing knowledge gained from research and/or practical experience, which is directed to producing new materials, products or devices, to installing new processes, systems and services, or to improving substantially those already produced or installed.

The fields of science and technology used to classify R&D according to the Revised Fields of Science and Technology Classification are:
1. Natural sciences;
2. Engineering and technology;
3. Medical and health sciences;
4. Agricultural sciences;
5. Social sciences;
6. Humanities and the arts.

Data are for full-time equivalent (FTE); the FTE of R&D personnel is defined as the ratio of working hours actually spent on R&D during a specific reference period (usually a calendar year) divided by the total number of hours conventionally worked in the same period by an individual or by a group.

The data are obtained through statistical surveys which are regularly conducted at national level covering R&D performing entities in the private and public sectors.


Developmentrelevance: Increases in human population, whether as a result of immigration or more births than deaths, can impact natural resources and social infrastructure.  This can place pressure on a country's sustainability.  A significant growth in population will negatively impact the availability of land for agricultural production, and will aggravate demand for food, energy, water, social services, and infrastructure. On the other hand, decreasing population size - a result of fewer births than deaths, and people moving out of a country - can impact a government's commitment to maintain services and infrastructure.

Generalcomments: Relevance to gender indicator: disaggregating the population composition by gender will help a country in projecting its demand for social services on a gender basis.

IndicatorName: Population, total

Limitationsandexceptions:
Current population estimates for developing countries that lack (i) reliable recent census data, and (ii) pre- and post-census estimates for countries with census data, are provided by the United Nations Population Division and other agencies.

The cohort component method - a standard method for estimating and projecting population - requires fertility, mortality, and net migration data, often collected from sample surveys, which can be small or limited in coverage. Population estimates are from demographic modeling and so are susceptible to biases and errors from shortcomings in both the model and the data.

Because future trends cannot be known with certainty, population projections have a wide range of uncertainty.

Longdefinition: Total population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship. The values shown are midyear estimates.

Source: (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects: 2024 Revision; (2) Statistical databases and publications from national statistical offices; (3) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics; (4) United Nations Statistics Division. Population and Vital Statistics Report (various years).

Statisticalconceptandmethodology:
Population estimates are usually based on national population censuses, and estimates of fertility, mortality and migration.

Errors and undercounting in census occur even in high-income countries.  In developing countries errors may be substantial because of limits in the transport, communications, and other resources required to conduct and analyze a full census.

The quality and reliability of official demographic data are also affected by public trust in the government, government commitment to full and accurate enumeration, confidentiality and protection against misuse of census data, and census agencies' independence from political influence. Moreover, comparability of population indicators is limited by differences in the concepts, definitions, collection procedures, and estimation methods used by national statistical agencies and other organizations that collect the data.

The currentness of a census and the availability of complementary data from surveys or registration systems are objective ways to judge demographic data quality. Some European countries' registration systems offer complete information on population in the absence of a census.

The United Nations Statistics Division monitors the completeness of vital registration systems. Some developing countries have made progress over the last 60 years, but others still have deficiencies in civil registration systems.

International migration is the only other factor besides birth and death rates that directly determines a country's population change. Estimating migration is difficult. At any time many people are located outside their home country as tourists, workers, or refugees or for other reasons. Standards for the duration and purpose of international moves that qualify as migration vary, and estimates require information on flows into and out of countries that is difficult to collect.

Population projections, starting from a base year are projected forward using assumptions of mortality, fertility, and migration by age and sex through 2050, based on the UN Population Division's World Population Prospects database medium variant.


IndicatorName: Population, female

Longdefinition: Female population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all female residents regardless of legal status or citizenship.


Developmentrelevance: Females comprise almost one-half of the world population.  Female population relative to male population is a primary demographic indicator, reflecting historical events such as wars and the socio-demographic and ethno-cultural characteristics of the population.

IndicatorName: Population, female (% of total population)

Longdefinition: Female population is the percentage of the population that is female. Population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship.

Source: World Bank staff estimates based on age/sex distributions of United Nations Population Division's World Population Prospects: 2024 Revision.

Statisticalconceptandmethodology: Population structure by age and sex in the World Bank's estimates is based on the population structure by age and sex in United Nations Population Division's World Population Prospects. For more information, see the original source.


IndicatorName: Population, male

Longdefinition: Male population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all male residents regardless of legal status or citizenship.


IndicatorName: Population, male (% of total population)

Longdefinition: Male population is the percentage of the population that is male. Population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship.


Developmentrelevance: Society typically first acknowledges a child’s existence and identity through birth registration. The right to be recognized as a person before the law is a critical step in ensuring lifelong protection and is a prerequisite for exercising all other rights. A birth certificate, issued following birth registration, is an important identity document for children. Birth registration also serves a statistical purpose. Universal birth registration is an essential part of a system of vital statistics, which tracks the major milestones in a person’s life - from birth to marriage and death. Such data are essential for planning and implementing development policies and programs, particularly in health, education, housing, water and sanitation, employment, agriculture and industrial production. The proportion of children under 5 years of age whose births have been registered with a civil authority is the official indicator for SDG Target 16.9, which sets out to “By 2030, provide legal identity for all, including birth registration”.

Generalcomments: This is a sex-disaggregated indicator for Sustainable Development Goal 16.9.1 [https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/].

IndicatorName: Completeness of birth registration, female (%)

Limitationsandexceptions:
Data on the prevalence of birth registration is collected mainly through censuses, civil registration systems (CRVS) and household surveys. Civil registration systems that are functioning effectively compile vital statistics that are used to compare the estimated total number of births in a country with the absolute number of registered births during a given period. However, the systematic recording of births in many countries remains a serious challenge. In the absence of reliable administrative data, household surveys have become a key source of data to monitor levels and trends in birth registration. In most low- and middle-income countries, such surveys represent the sole source of this information.

Substantial differences can exist between CRVS coverage and birth registration levels as captured by household surveys. The differences are primarily because data from CRVS typically refer to the percentage of all births that have been registered (often within a specific timeframe) whereas household surveys often represent the percentage of children under age five whose births are registered. The latter (the level of registration among children under 5) is specified in the SDG indicator (16.9).

Longdefinition: Completeness of birth registration is the percentage of children under age 5 whose births were registered at the time of the survey. The numerator of completeness of birth registration includes children whose birth certificate was seen by the interviewer or whose mother or caretaker says the birth has been registered.

Source: Household surveys such as Demographic and Health Surveys and Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys.  Largely compiled by UNICEF.

Statisticalconceptandmethodology:
Birth registration refers to the permanent and official recording of a child's existence by some administrative levels of the State that is normally coordinated by a particular branch of the government.

Birth registration estimates are primarily drawn from nationally representative household surveys such as the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) and Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS). Other data sources include other national surveys, censuses and vital statistics from civil registration systems, and estimated coverage of birth registration within national civil registration systems from the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD).


IndicatorName: Completeness of birth registration, male (%)


IndicatorName: Completeness of birth registration, rural (%)


Generalcomments: This is a disaggregated indicator (residence) for Sustainable Development Goal 16.9.1 [https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/].

IndicatorName: Completeness of birth registration, urban (%)


Generalcomments: This is the Sustainable Development Goal indicator 16.9.1 [https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/].

IndicatorName: Completeness of birth registration (%)


IndicatorName: Completeness of death registration with cause-of-death information (%)

Longdefinition: Completeness of death registration is the estimated percentage of deaths that are registered with their cause of death information in the vital registration system of a country.

Source: World Health Organization, Global Health Observatory Data Repository/World Health Statistics (http://apps.who.int/gho/data/node.main.1?lang=en).


Developmentrelevance:
The rural population is calculated using the urban share reported by the United Nations Population Division. There is no universal standard for distinguishing rural from urban areas, and any urban-rural dichotomy is an oversimplification.

 The two distinct images - isolated farm, thriving metropolis - represent poles on a continuum. Life changes along a variety of dimensions, moving from the most remote forest outpost through fields and pastures, past tiny hamlets, through small towns with weekly farm markets, into intensively cultivated areas near large towns and small cities, eventually reaching the center of a megacity. Along the way access to infrastructure, social services, and nonfarm employment increase, and with them population density and income.

A 2005 World Bank Policy Research Paper proposes an operational definition of rurality based on population density and distance to large cities (Chomitz, Buys, and Thomas 2005). The report argues that these criteria are important gradients along which economic behavior and appropriate development interventions vary substantially. Where population densities are low, markets of all kinds are thin, and the unit cost of delivering most social services and many types of infrastructure is high. Where large urban areas are distant, farm-gate or factory-gate prices of outputs will be low and input prices will be high, and it will be difficult to recruit skilled people to public service or private enterprises. Thus, low population density and remoteness together define a set of rural areas that face special development challenges.

Countries differ in the way they classify population as "urban" or "rural."

Most countries use an urban classification related to the size or characteristics of settlements. Some define urban areas based on the presence of certain infrastructure and services. And other countries designate urban areas based on administrative arrangements. Because of national differences in the characteristics that distinguish urban from rural areas, the distinction between urban and rural population is not amenable to a single definition that would be applicable to all countries.

Rural population methodology is defined by various national statistical offices. In the United States, for example, the US Census Bureau's urban-rural classification is fundamentally a delineation of geographical areas, identifying both individual urban areas and the rural areas of the nation. "Rural" encompasses all population, housing, and territory not included within an urban area.

IndicatorName: Rural population

Limitationsandexceptions:
Aggregation of urban and rural population may not add up to total population because of different country coverage. There is no consistent and universally accepted standard for distinguishing urban from rural areas, in part because of the wide variety of situations across countries.

Estimates of the world's urban population would change significantly if China, India, and a few other populous nations were to change their definition of urban centers.

Because the estimates of city and metropolitan area are based on national definitions of what constitutes a city or metropolitan area, cross-country comparisons should be made with caution. To estimate urban populations, UN ratios of urban to total population were applied to the World Bank's estimates of total population.

Longdefinition: Rural population refers to people living in rural areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated as the difference between total population and urban population. Aggregation of urban and rural population may not add up to total population because of different country coverages.

Source: World Bank staff estimates based on the United Nations Population Division's World Urbanization Prospects: 2018 Revision.

Statisticalconceptandmethodology:
Rural population is calculated as the difference between the total population and the urban population. Rural population is approximated as the midyear nonurban population. While a practical means of identifying the rural population, it is not a precise measure.

The United Nations Population Division and other agencies provide current population estimates for developing countries that lack recent census data and pre- and post-census estimates for countries with census data.

Topic: Environment: Density & urbanization


IndicatorName: Rural population growth (annual %)

Longdefinition: Rural population refers to people living in rural areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated as the difference between total population and urban population.


IndicatorName: Rural population (% of total population)


Developmentrelevance:
Explosive growth of cities globally signifies the demographic transition from rural to urban, and is associated with shifts from an agriculture-based economy to mass industry, technology, and service.

In principle, cities offer a more favorable setting for the resolution of social and environmental problems than rural areas. Cities generate jobs and income, and deliver education, health care and other services. Cities also present opportunities for social mobilization and women's empowerment.

IndicatorName: Urban population growth (annual %)

Limitationsandexceptions:
There is no consistent and universally accepted standard for distinguishing urban from rural areas, in part because of the wide variety of situations across countries.

Most countries use an urban classification related to the size or characteristics of settlements. Some define urban areas based on the presence of certain infrastructure and services. And other countries designate urban areas based on administrative arrangements. Because of national differences in the characteristics that distinguish urban from rural areas, the distinction between urban and rural population is not amenable to a single definition that would be applicable to all countries.

Estimates of the world's urban population would change significantly if China, India, and a few other populous nations were to change their definition of urban centers.

Because the estimates of city and metropolitan area are based on national definitions of what constitutes a city or metropolitan area, cross-country comparisons should be made with caution.

Longdefinition: Urban population refers to people living in urban areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated using World Bank population estimates and urban ratios from the United Nations World Urbanization Prospects.

Statisticalconceptandmethodology:
Urban population refers to people living in urban areas as defined by national statistical offices. The indicator is calculated using World Bank population estimates and urban ratios from the United Nations World Urbanization Prospects. To estimate urban populations, UN ratios of urban to total population were applied to the World Bank's estimates of total population.

Countries differ in the way they classify population as "urban" or "rural." The population of a city or metropolitan area depends on the boundaries chosen.


IndicatorName: Urban population

Limitationsandexceptions:
Aggregation of urban and rural population may not add up to total population because of different country coverage. There is no consistent and universally accepted standard for distinguishing urban from rural areas, in part because of the wide variety of situations across countries.

Most countries use an urban classification related to the size or characteristics of settlements. Some define urban areas based on the presence of certain infrastructure and services. And other countries designate urban areas based on administrative arrangements. Because of national differences in the characteristics that distinguish urban from rural areas, the distinction between urban and rural population is not amenable to a single definition that would be applicable to all countries.

Estimates of the world's urban population would change significantly if China, India, and a few other populous nations were to change their definition of urban centers.

Because the estimates of city and metropolitan area are based on national definitions of what constitutes a city or metropolitan area, cross-country comparisons should be made with caution.

Longdefinition: Urban population refers to people living in urban areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated using World Bank population estimates and urban ratios from the United Nations World Urbanization Prospects. Aggregation of urban and rural population may not add up to total population because of different country coverages.


IndicatorName: Urban population (% of total population)

Longdefinition: Urban population refers to people living in urban areas as defined by national statistical offices. The data are collected and smoothed by United Nations Population Division.

Source: United Nations Population Division. World Urbanization Prospects: 2018 Revision.

Statisticalconceptandmethodology:
Urban population refers to people living in urban areas as defined by national statistical offices. The indicator is calculated using World Bank population estimates and urban ratios from the United Nations World Urbanization Prospects.

Percentages urban are the numbers of persons residing in an area defined as ''urban'' per 100 total population. Particular caution should be used in interpreting the figures for percentage urban for different countries.

Countries differ in the way they classify population as "urban" or "rural." The population of a city or metropolitan area depends on the boundaries chosen.