Demographic

There are more women than men in Swaziland (53 percent and 47 percent, respectively). The sexratio (proportion of men out of 100 women) is 88. This is consistent with findings of the 1986 census (89)and the 1997 census (90). The sex ratio in the rural areas is lower than that in the urban areas (88 percentcompared with 91 percent), which may be due to higher rural-urban migration among men than amongwomen.Swaziland’s population is young, with 44 percent of the total population under 15 years of age,and less than 4 percent is 65 years or older. Figure 2.1 illustrates the age structure of the householdpopulation in a population pyramid. The two bottom bars of the pyramid that represent population 0-9years are smaller than the bar for the next older age. This means that although fertility levels are still high,resulting in a wide base, the country has experienced significant fertility declines. The bars between age20 and 45 for both males and females narrow rapidly with increasing age, reflecting high rates ofmortality, probably due to AIDS-related factors. The proportion of women in the older age groups ismuch higher than the proportion of men. Because there is no evidence of significantly higher emigrationamong men, one may conclude that men have higher mortality levels.AgeFigure 2.1 Population Pyramid80+75-7970-7465-6960-6455-5950-5445-4940-4435-3930-3425-2920-2415-1910-145-90-4MaleFemale10 8 6 4 20 2 4 6 8 10PercentSDHS 2006-072.2 HOUSEHOLD COMPOSITIONInformation on key aspects of the composition of households, including the sex of the head of thehousehold and the size of the household, is presented in Table 2.2. These characteristics are importantbecause they are associated with the welfare of the household. Female-headed households are, forexample, typically poorer than male-headed households. Economic resources are often more limited inlarger households. Moreover, where the size of the household is large, crowding also can lead to healthproblems.Table 2.2 presents the distribution of households by the sex of heads of household and byhousehold size in urban and rural areas. The average size of households according to residence is also10 | Household Population and Housing Characteristics