UNITED NATIONS POPULATION DIVISION ANNOUNCES PUBLICATION OF UPDATED GLOBAL POPULATION POLICY DATABASE

Press Release
POP/616

UNITED NATIONS POPULATION DIVISION ANNOUNCES PUBLICATION OF UPDATED GLOBAL POPULATION POLICY DATABASE

NEW YORK, 26 March (DESIPA) -- Which countries wish to decrease or increase their fertility? How do these policies compare to actual levels of fertility? Which countries view their emigration as too high and which view immigration as too low? Are there any countries that impose major restrictions on access to contraception? Which countries are attempting to decelerate migration flows to metropolitan areas?

Such questions are answered and analysed for 190 countries in a recent United Nations publication entitled Global Population Policy Database, 1995 (GRIPP:1995). The biennial publication describes the GRIPP database, which contains information drawn from the Population Policy Data Bank maintained by the Population Division of the United Nations Department for Economic and Social Information and Policy Analysis (DESIPA). The policy topics covered in the publication are population growth, mortality, fertility, internal migration, immigration and emigration. It also contains information on selected demographic indicators, including current and projected population size, current levels of fertility and mortality, current population growth rates and the percentages of foreign-born populations.

An examination of the data reveals that of 190 countries, 82 have policies aimed at lowering the fertility level, while 23 have a policy to raise the level. Of the remaining 85 countries, 24 have a policy to maintain fertility while 61 do not intervene on their level of fertility. As regards Governments' perceptions of the level of international migration, 47 countries view the levels of emigration as too high, 137 are satisfied with the level and six feel that their level of emigration is too low. As to the level of immigration, four countries view it as too low, 146 as satisfactory and 40 feel that their level of immigration is too high. As to access to contraceptives, only 2 countries impose major restrictions on access to contraceptives. Concerning policies to modify internal migration, 80 aim to decelerate the trend, 28 to reverse the trend, 11 to maintain it and 68 have no policy. Only three countries seek to accelerate the trend in internal migration.

The data are being made available also on diskette in order to facilitate the analysis of national population policies by organizations within the United Nations system, external research organizations, the

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academic community and individual researchers. The diskette is also accompanied by a publication entitled Population Policy Diskette Documentation, 1995. To increase analytical flexibility and "user- friendliness", the diskette provides the data files and corresponding dictionaries in four commonly used formats.

The information in the Population Policy Data Bank derives from a variety of sources. One major source is the official replies of governments to the United Nations Population Inquiries conducted in 1963, 1972, 1976, 1978, 1982, 1988 and 1993. Other major sources of data are national development plans, publications describing laws and regulations, national reports prepared for the International Conference on Population and Development (Cairo, 1994), official statements at population conferences, explicit population planning documents, clippings from the world press, academic journals, information provided by bibliographical services and population newsletters, consultations with technical experts, contacts within the United Nations system and material provided by governmental agencies.

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Note:To obtain a copy of GRIPP:1995 (price, $50.00), or for further information about the database, write to the Director, Population Division, United Nations Secretariat, 2 United Nations Plaza (Rm. DC2- 1950), New York, NY 10017; fax number (212) 963-2147.