menage - Millennium Development Goals Indicators

error up to ±0.5 may be introduced by chance alone. Despite theirshort-comings, these rates do provide a useful index for studyingpopulation change and, used with proper precautions they ca~ beuseful also in evaluating the accuracy of vital and migratIOn statistics.Comparability of area and density figures is limited by the factors setforth above. It should be emphasized that density values are veryrough indices, inasmuch as they do not take account of the dispersionor concentration of population within countries, nor the probableproportion of habitable land.Table 3Table 3 presents for each country of the world, the latest availablenational rates of birth, death, marriage, divorce, infant mortality, fertilityand natural increase, as well as expectation of life for males andfemales separately. It thus serves the same quick reference purpose forvital statistics as is served by table 2 for population and area.Registered rates for the latest available year are shown whereverthey are considered reliable; where statistics are unreliable, credibleestimates of the national birth and death rate have been included in thetable, suitably identified. The effects of this policy are particularlyevident in Africa and Asia, where vital statistics from civil registers arenotably defective but where apparently reasonable estimates of rateshave been derived from sample-survey results or from other sources.In accordance with policy, relatively reliable rates are shown inroman type, while those believed to be markedly less reliable are initalics. It must be emphasized, however, that special qualifications ofthese data have had to be omitted for lack of space; hence referenceshould be made to the corresponding trend tables for more preciseinformation on coverage, basis of tabulation and general limitations.The reference year shown in the table is that common to the birthand death rates; when the time reference for other rates differs fromthis, it is given in a footnote.Coverage: Table 3 contains rates for 196 countries. Only nationalrates, or those for the major ethnic group, are shown; rates for Cities,minor civil divisions or minor ethnic groups have not been included,inasmuch as the table's function is to provide indices which arepresumed to be representative of those for the country as a whole.Rate computation:Crude registered birth, death, marriage and divorce rates are thenumber of events reported from civil registers for the calendar yearcited, per 1 000 persons present in the same geographic area at themid-point of the year in question.Crude estimated rates obtained from sample survey results are thenumber of events estimated to have occurred during the referenceperiod (usually 12 months preceding the date of the sample survey)per 1 000 persons estimated to have been resident when the surveytook place.Infant mortality rates are the number of deaths. which occurredunder one year of age during the calendar year cited, per 1 000 livebirths reported in the same year. No adjustment is made for the factthat some of the infants who died were born in the year preceding thereference year.Fertility rates are the number of live births reported in the calendaror survey year, per 1 000 female population aged 10-49 years at themidpoint of the year in question.Natural-increase rates are the difference between the crude birthand death rates.Expectation-of-life values are the average number of years of lifewhich would remain for males and females reaching the ages specifiedif they continued to be subject to the same mortality conditions asobtained in the period mentioned. They have been taken from theOfficial life tables of the countries concerned.Limitations: Since most of the rates and all of the life expectancies arepresented also in other tables in this or previous Demographic Yearbooks,reference should be made to the corresponding basic compilationsfor details of limitations and qualifications.In assessing comparability, special attention should be paid to therelative degrees of completeness as expressed in the quality code ineach trend table and the footnotes appended thereto, and to thesource of the estimated rates. Variation in the b'3sis of tabulation (i.e.,date of occurrence versus date of registration) is another potentialsource of noncomparability which should be borne in mind in usingthe rates on an international basis. Finally, the noncorrespondence ofthe time reference might also need to be considered in comparing thevarious rates for one country with each other and with correspondingrates for other countries.Table 4Estimates of total population for each year 1959-1968 are presentedin table 4 42 All figures are given in thousands, those reported in unitshaving been rounded in the Statistical Office, using the digit five (5) inthe hundreds place as the criterion for upward adjustment.Unless otherwise indicated, all estimates relate to the present-inarea(de facto) population within present geographic boundaries,Major divergencies from this principle have been explained in footnotes.On the other hand, the disposition of certain major segments ofpopulation (such as armed forces) has been indicated, even thoughthis disposition does not strictly constitute disagreement With thestandard.Estimates: Except as described below, estimates are officialfigures which are consistent with the results of national censuses orsample surveys taken in the period. This means that if inexplicablediscontinuities appeared to exist the estimates have been officiallyrevised to accord with the results of a census or survey of populationand they thus form a consistent time series. They refer to the midyear,i.e., to the population at 1 July of the relevant year or to the mean ofthe two proximate end-year estimates. No distinction is made betweenthese two types of mid-year estimates, on the assumption that thedifference is negligible.The policy determining the data to be shown in table 4 is the sameas that adopted in table 2, that is, when an acceptable official mid-yearestimate of population as defined above was not available, a UnitedNations mid-year estimate, identified by the superscript "x" has beenused instead. These United Nations estimates take into account availableinformation on the reliability of census and survey results, naturalincrease, the possibility of migratory movement substantial enough toaffect the pre- and post-censal estimates, and so forth. This policy isdesigned to produce an internally consistent time series of midyearestimates which are in accord with reliable census and survey results.Unrevised data, as well as results of censuses, surveys and estimatesrelating to dates other than the mid-year, have been eliminated infavour of United Nations mid-year estimates.It should be pointed out, however, that in a number of countries, thebasic data necessary for the construction of population estimates (thatis, census or survey results and some measure of natural increase)were not available. In these cases, United Nations estimates cou'd notbe made either to replace internally inconsistent and fragmentaryofficial series, or to fill gaps in otherwise acceptable official series. Theinconsistent estimates have, been omitted, and the gaps appear in theofficial series.The quality of the time series has been evaluated by the method setforth on p. 9. Series considered to be reliable are set in the usualroman type; series considered to be of questionable reliability are set initalics. The results of censuses taken 30 June or 1 July are shown inbold face roman for easy identification.Coverage: This table, containing data for 221 countries, is the secondmost comprehensive published in the Yearbook. Data for every countryin the world having 1 000 or more inhabitants are included. A 1963and 1968 estimate for each country with fewer than 1 000 inhabitantsis shown in table 2.Limitations: Comparability of population estimates is limited by thefactors set forth on pp. 7 -10, namely by the variation in the meaningattached to the terms de jure and de facto in defining the total count,by the accuracy and recency of the census, if any, on which estimatesare based and by the method of time adjustment. However, the policyof replacing out-of-line estimates and scattered census results, by aninternally consistent series of mid-year estimates constructed by theUnited Nations, should increase comparability.Table 5Table 5 shows the latest available official distribution of the totalpopulation by 5-year age groups and sex for the latest available year42 Population by urban/rural residence for 1964-1968 is shown in table 11.19