POPULATION HANDBOOK

POPULATION REFERENCE BUREAU’S
POPULATION
HANDBOOK
5th Edition
A QUICK GUIDE TO
POPULATION DYNAMICS
FOR JOURNALISTS,
POLICYMAKERS,
TEACHERS, STUDENTS
AND OTHER PEOPLE
INTERESTED IN
DEMOGRAPHICS

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The
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Population
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Reference
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POPULATION REFERENCE BUREAU’S
POPULATION
HANDBOOK
5th Edition
by Arthur Haupt and Thomas T. Kane
Population Reference Bureau
Washington, DC

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Copyright ©1978, 1985, 1988, 1991, 1998, 2004
by the Population Reference Bureau
Fifth edition
Printed in the U.S.A.
Eleventh printing, 2004
Library of
Haupt, Arthur, 1945-
Congress
Population Reference Bureau’s Population Handbook
Cataloging-
(Fifth edition)
in-Publication
Data
1. Population—Handbooks, manuals, etc.
2. Demography—Handbooks, manuals, etc. I. Kane,
Thomas T. 1951- II. Population Reference Bureau.
III. Title. IV. Title: Population handbook.
HB871.H357 1991 304.6’02’02 91-66596
ISBN 0-917136-12-8
Other Handbook
The Population Handbook is also published in French, Spanish,
Editions
and Chinese.
Population Reference Bureau
1875 Connecticut Ave., NW, Suite 520
Washington, DC 20009-5728 U.S.A.
Tel: 202-483-1100
Fax: 202-328-3937
E-mail: popref@prb.org
Website: www.prb.org

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Contents
Chapter 1
About Population ..............................................1
Chapter 2
Age and Sex Composition ................................5
Chapter 3
Fertility ..............................................................13
Chapter 4
Factors Affecting Fertility ................................21
Chapter 5
Mortality ............................................................25
Chapter 6
Morbidity ..........................................................31
Chapter 7
Nuptiality ..........................................................33
Chapter 8
Migration ..........................................................35
Chapter 9
Race and Ethnicity ..........................................37
Chapter 10
Households and Families ................................39
Chapter 11
Urbanization and Distribution ........................41
Chapter 12
Population Change ....................……………..43
Chapter 13
Population and Policy ......................................51
Appendix
Sources and Availability of Data ......................53
Glossary ............................................................55
Trilingual Thesaurus ........................................64
Features
The Tools of Demography ................................2
Calculating the Total Fertility Rate ................16
How Life Tables Work......................................30

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The Population
Since its publication in 1978, PRB’s Population Handbook has
Handbook
appeared in eight languages and has been circulated around the
world. It has been used by thousands of teachers and students in
fields such as sociology, geography, and urban studies. Journalists
refer to the handbook as an authoritative guide in preparing popu-
lation-related stories, while policymakers and planners have found it
to be a ready reference to the rates, ratios, and concepts of demog-
raphy. Understanding the broad implications of population change
is important to those who make decisions and inform others about
demographic change around the world.

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About Population
chapter 1
Just as effective development depends on reliable
knowledge of natural and other resources, so does
effective development planning depend upon natural
knowledge of the composition, growth, and move-
ment of population. (21 May 1975)
Rafael Salas
Executive Director (1969–1987)
United Nations Population Fund
Everyone is a member of a population, and population factors
have an impact on many facets of life—from where we live to the
prices we pay for goods and services. The need for health care pre-
occupies the political leaders of the industrialized countries whose
populations are “aging,” while the need for classrooms, employ-
ment opportunities, and housing preoccupies the leaders of coun-
tries that are still growing rapidly.
Population conditions influence history. Likewise, historical
events can significantly affect populations. Wars can decimate a
generation of men, as happened in the 20th century in the Soviet
Union, France, Iraq, and several other countries. The discovery of
new medicines often leads to increases in life expectancy, and dif-
ferent causes of death become more prominent. Alternatively,
population change may sound a warning of other important
changes. Environmental contamination may be detected first by
increased reports of illness and rising mortality rates in certain
geographic areas. In all these ways and more, population is news.
Population information is best communicated in terms of num-
bers and rates. It is not enough to know that life expectancy is
increasing. How many years are being added? Over what time pe-
riod has the change occurred? Which people are affected? What
proportion of the population do they represent? Such information
is more meaningful when it provides an indication of the magni-
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The Tools of Demography
Count
The absolute number of a population or any demographic event
occurring in a specified area in a specified time period. (For example,
1,200,500 live births occurred in Japan in 1997.) The raw quantities of
demographic events are the basis of all other statistical refinements
and analyses.
Rate
The frequency of demographic events in a population during a speci-
fied time period (usually a year) divided by the population “at risk” of
the event occurring during that time period. Rates tell how common it
is for a given event to occur. (For example, in 1997 in Papua New
Guinea there were 34 live births per 1,000 population.) Most rates are
expressed per 1,000 population. Crude rates are rates computed for
an entire population. Specific rates are computed for a subgroup, usu-
ally the population more nearly approximating the population “at
risk” of the event. (For example, the general fertility rate is the num-
ber of births per 1,000 women ages 15-49.) Thus, rates can be age-
specific, sex-specific, race-specific, occupation-specific, and so on. In
practice, some measures that are referred to as rates would be more
accurately termed ratios.
Ratio
The relation of one population subgroup to the total population or to
another subgroup; that is, one subgroup divided by another. (For
example, the sex ratio in Iran in 1996 was 103 males per 100 females).
The relation of a population subgroup to the entire population; that is,
tude and distribution of the phenomenon, as well as the trend. To
be useful, data must be expressed clearly as well as accurately. Birth
rates are often confused with growth rates; declining growth rates
are sometimes mistakenly equated with declining population size.
Demography is the scientific study of population. Demographers
seek to know the levels and trends in population size and its com-
ponents. They search for explanations of demographic change and
their implications for societies. They use censuses, birth and death
records, surveys, visa records, even motor vehicle and school regis-
trations. They shape these data into manageable forms such as sim-
ple counts, rates, or ratios.
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a population subgroup divided by the entire population. (For exam-
Proportion
ple, the proportion of Malaysia’s population classified as urban was
0.57 or 57 percent.)
An unchanging, arbitrary number (for example, 100 or 1,000 or
100,000) by which rates, ratios, or proportions can be multiplied to
Constant
express these measures in a more understandable fashion. For
example, 0.0134 live births per person occurred in Cuba in 1996.
Multiplying this rate by a constant (1,000) gives the same statistic in
terms of 1,000 people. This is a clearer way of expressing the same
thing: There were 13.4 births per 1,000 population. In the formulas
on the following pages, “K” means constant.
A statistic that measures events occurring to a cohort (a group of
people sharing a common demographic experience) who are
Cohort
observed through time. The most commonly used cohort is the birth
Measure
cohort—people born in the same year or period. Other kinds of
cohorts include marriage cohorts and school class cohorts.
A statistic that measures events occurring to all or part of a popula-
tion during one period of time; this measure “takes a snapshot” of a
Period
population, in effect. (For example, the death rate of the entire
Measure
Canadian population in 1997 was 7 per 1,000.)
Most of the principal measures used in demography are defined
on the following pages, together with recent examples of their use.
The purpose of this Population Handbook is to clarify and explain
demographic terms to journalists, policymakers, teachers, stu-
dents, and others who need to understand and communicate
about population.
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Age and Sex Composition
chapter 2
Age and sex are the most basic characteristics of a
population. Every population has a different age and
sex composition—the number and proportion of males
and females in each age group—and this structure can
have considerable impact on the population’s social
and economic situation, both present and future.
Some populations are relatively young, that is, they have a large
“Young” and
proportion of people in the younger age groups. The high-fertility
“Old” Populations
countries of Africa with large proportions of young adults and chil-
dren are examples. Other populations are relatively old, such as
many countries in Europe. These two types of populations have
markedly different age compositions; as a consequence, they also
have different proportions of the population in the labor force or
in school, as well as different medical needs, consumer prefer-
ences, and even crime patterns. A population’s age structure has a
great deal to do with how that population lives.
Developing countries have relatively young populations while
most developed countries have old or “aging” populations. In many
developing countries, 40 percent or more of the population is
under age 15, while 4 percent is 65 or older. On the other hand, in
all but a few developed countries, less than 25 percent of the pop-
ulation is under age 15 and more than 10 percent is 65 or older.
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