SAHR 2007 - Health Systems Trust

Health and Related Indicators 15
Indicator Definitions
Indicator Definitions
Type Indicator Definition
Demographic
Population
Distribution
Socio-Economic
Education
Average household size
Crude death rate
Total fertility rate
Annual population growth rate
Population
Population % by province
Population % by ethnic group
Population % composition
Public sector dependent
population
Area (square km)
Area as a % of total area of
South Africa
Population density (people
per km 2 )
Rural (non-urban) percentage
Urban percentage
GDP per capita (PPP US$)
Human development index
Human development index
rank
Poverty prevalence
Education level
Average number of people living in each household where household is defined as a person, or a group of persons, who occupy a common
dwelling (or part of it) for at least four days a week and who provide themselves jointly with food and other essentials for living. In other
words, they live together as a unit. People who occupy the same dwelling, but who do not share food or other essentials, are enumerated as
separate households.
Number of deaths in a year per 1 000 population.
The average number of children that a woman gives birth to in her lifetime, assuming that the prevailing rates remain unchanged.
The rate at which the population is increasing or decreasing in a given year expressed as a percentage of the base population size. It takes
into consideration all the components of population growth, namely births, deaths and migration.
Total number of people. Projected population figures are based on various projection models attempting to quantify the expected effects of
HIV and AIDS on population growth.
Proportion of South African population in each province (calculated from population per province and population for whole of South Africa).
Proportion of South African population in each ethnic group (calculated from population per ethnic group and population for whole of South
Africa).
Percentage of the population by various categories.
e.g. Percentage of South African population under age of 15 years
Percentage of South African population over age of 60 years
Percentage of South African population female.
This is an adjustment of the total population to the number assumed to be dependent on services in the public health sector based on
medical scheme (health insurance) coverage. It is calculated by subtracting the number of people with medical scheme cover (determined
from medical scheme membership reports, or surveys indicating percentage of population on medical schemes) from the total population.
Land area covered by geographic entity.
Area of province divided by total area of country (South Africa).
Number of people per square kilometre.
Proportion of population living in a non-urban environment. Non-urban, or rural areas include commercial farms, small settlements, rural
villages and other areas which are further away from towns and cities. The definition includes semi-urban areas which are not part of a
legally proclaimed urban area, but adjoin it.
Proportion of population living in urban environment. An urban area is one which has been legally proclaimed as being urban e.g. towns,
cities and metropolitan areas.
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) - the total output of goods and services for final use produced by an economy, by both residents and nonresidents,
regardless of the allocation to domestic and foreign claims. It does not include deductions for depreciation of physical capital or
depletion and degradation of natural resources.
Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) - A rate of exchange that accounts for price differences across countries allowing international comparisons
of real output and incomes. At the PPP US$ rate, PPP US$1 has the same purchasing power in the domestic economy as $1 has in the
United States.
The HDI is a summary measure of human development. It measures the average achievements in a country in three basic dimensions of
human development:
✧ A long and healthy life, as measured by life expectancy at birth
✧ Knowledge, as measured by the adult literacy rate (with two-thirds weight) and the combined primary, secondary and tertiary gross
enrolment ratio (with one-third weight)
✧ A decent standard of living, as measured by GDP per capita (PPP US$).
Caution: Calculation of HDI is an evolving methodology, and comparisons should not be made between years (when methods might have
varied) but can be made between countries, as issued by the same source.
A high value for the HDI represents better human development.
Rank from 1 to end given to each country according to value of HDI. (Value of 1 represents the best (highest) human development index.)
Proportion of people / households living in poverty. Depending on the poverty line and the methodology used there are various estimates of
the extent of poverty, therefore caution should be observed in comparing estimates from different sources, and comparative reliability can
be assessed from the rank order correlation between different sets of estimates.
Percentage of people in a given age group who have received a particular level of education.
In this chapter, data are presented for the percentage of population aged 20 years and above with no schooling.
Employment
Age dependency ratio
Unemployment rate (official
definition)
The ratio of the combined child population (0-14 years) and the aged population (65 years and over) - persons in the dependent ages - to
every 100 people of the intermediate age population (15-65 years) - economically active ages. Where more detailed data are lacking, the
age-dependency ratio is often used as an indicator of the economic burden the productive portion of a population must carry - even though
some persons defined as dependent are producers and some persons in the productive ages are economically dependent.
The official definition of the unemployed is that they are those people within the economically active population who
(a) did not work during the 7 days prior to the interview,
(b) want to work and are available to work within a week of the interview, and
(c) have taken active steps to look for work or to start some form of self-employment in the 4 weeks prior to the interview.
Note that the census produces lower estimates of labour force participation because there are less prompts to identify employed people,
and the Labour Force Survey provides the official labour market statistics.
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