UNITED NATIONS 'DEMOGRAPHIC YEARBOOK 1996' PUBLISHED
Press Release
STAT/438
UNITED NATIONS 'DEMOGRAPHIC YEARBOOK 1996' PUBLISHED
19980529NEW YORK, 29 May (Department of Economic and Social Affairs) -- The Demographic Yearbook 1996, which features statistics on mortality from 211 countries or areas, as well as arrival and departure statistics, has just been published by the United Nations. The information is compiled from national statistical offices around the world and prepared by the Statistics Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
Highlights from the 1996 Yearbook include:
-- In 15 countries, women's life expectancy at birth now exceeds 80 years up from two countries in the 1985 Demographic Yearbook;
-- Life expectancy for women in 60 countries or areas around the world is 75 years or more, up from 40 countries in 1985 and 22 in 1980; in 49 countries, life expectancy for men exceeds 70 years, 16 more countries than reported in the 1985 volume and 32 more than in 1980;
-- Infant mortality rates are 15 or fewer infant deaths per 1,000 live births in 75 countries or areas compared to 32 countries or areas reported in the 1985 Yearbook and 24 reported in 1980;
-- Between 1987 and 1996 the infant mortality rate declined markedly in some countries in Asia and the Americas. For example, in Cuba infant mortality decreased 13.3 per 1,000 live births to 8.0, in Armenia the rate dropped from 22.8 to 15.1 and in Singapore the decrease was from 7.4 to 3.8;
-- Declines in mortality were registered on every continent, as measured by lower infant mortality and increased life expectancy; and
-- Life expectancy in Africa is still lower than in other parts of the world. Only women in Cape Verde, Mauritius, Seychelles and Tunisia have an expectation of life at birth in excess of 70 years. However, life expectancy now exceeds 50 years for men in 24 countries or areas and for women in 35 countries or areas. It is less than 50 years for men in 29 countries and for women in 19 countries or areas.
The special focus of the latest Demographic Yearbook is mortality. Twenty-one statistical tables are presented on: induced abortion, foetal, perinatal and infant mortality; and on death by age, sex, rural/urban residence, marital status and cause of death. Detailed data on life expectancy and other related statistics is also given.
The issue of the Yearbook also presents the latest statistics on population size, birth rates, marriage and divorce from more than 200 countries or areas. Urban and rural breakdowns are given wherever possible.
Life Expectancy
The Yearbook shows that life expectancy of more than 80 years for women is increasingly common in developed countries. In 15 countries or areas, women have a life expectancy at birth of at least 80 years. According to the Yearbook, Japan shows the longest life expectancy in the world (82.9), followed by Switzerland (81.7), Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China (81.5), France (81.4), Sweden (81.4), Australia (80.9), Canada (80.9), Iceland (80.6), Italy (80.5), Spain (80.5), Netherlands (80.4), Norway (80.3), Finland (80.2), Greece (80.2) and Austria (80.0).
Men are expected to live more than 75 years in nine countries or areas of the world. Iceland recorded the longest life expectancy for males (76.5), followed by Japan (76.4), Sweden (76.1) Hong Kong SAR (76.0), Cyprus (75.3), Israel (75.3), Switzerland (75.3), Australia (75.0) and Greece (75.0).
Among the 25 largest countries, the gap in life expectancy between women and men is largest in the Russian Federation (13.4 years), Ukraine (10.4 years) and France (8.1 years). That gap is the smallest in Iran (0.9 years) and India (0.4 year). In Bangladesh, life expectancy for men is longer than for women by almost 1 year.
Infant Mortality
The Yearbook also reports on infant mortality rates, as the number of deaths of infant one year of age per 1,000 live births. The 10 countries or areas with the lowest infant mortality rates are Sweden (3.5), Singapore (3.8), Finland (3.9), Norway (4.1), Japan (4.3), China, Hong Kong SAR (4.6), Switzerland (4.8), France and Luxembourg (4.9), Austria (5.0) and Denmark and the Netherlands (5.1).
Crude Death Rate
The crude death rate is not generally useful for comparing levels and trends in mortality because it is a composite of the force of mortality at different ages and of the age structure of the population. For example, Argentina (7.3), Cuba (7.2) and Japan (7.1) have similar crude death rates,
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but life expectancy differs by a wider margin: Argentina: males 68.4, females 75.6; Cuba: males 72.9, females 76.8; and Japan: males 76.36, females 82.9.
Death Rates by Specific Ages
The Yearbook presents age-specific death rates for 92 countries or areas. The typical pattern for age-specific mortality is for relatively high rates during infancy, a decline after the first year of life, reaching the lowest level between 10 and 14 years when it increases gradually until about age 60 and becomes markedly higher in later years. For men, the increase becomes noticeable earlier, around 50-54 years.
Sex Differences in Mortality
Survival among women is higher at every age than among men. In 41 out of 42 countries which have reliable systems for registering deaths, infant mortality is lower for females than males and mortality increases at a later age for women than for men. As a result, women have a longer life expectancy than men and there are more women than men in older age groups. Exceptions to the pattern of longer life expectancy for women are found in Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal and Yemen.
Maternal Mortality
Thirty five countries, with reliable death registration, report a maternal mortality rate of fewer than 11 deaths among mothers per 100,000 live births, 15 countries more than in 1985.
Most Populous Nations
The 25 most populous countries in 1996, which contain about 80 per cent of the estimated world population, are listed below in rank order by size of population together with the most recent total fertility rate and life expectancy at birth for men and women.
Expectation of life at birth Range Country Population TFR Male Female (in thousands)
1 China 1,232,083 1.9 66.8 70.5 2 India 936,000 3.4 57.7 58.1 3 United States 266,557 2.0 72.4 79.0 4 Indonesia 196,813 2.9 61.0 64.5 5 Brazil 157,872 2.4 64.1 70.6 6 Russian Federation 147,739 1.3 58.3 71.7
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Expectation of life at birth Range Country Population TFR Male Female (in thousands)
7 Pakistan 134,146 5.9 59.0 59.2 8 Japan 125,761 1.4 76.4 82.9 9 Bangladesh 120,073 4.4 56.9 56.0 10 Nigeria 115,120 6.4 48.8 52.0 11 Mexico 96,578 3.1 62.1 66.0 12 Germany 81,912 1.2 73.0 79.5 13 Viet Nam 75,181 3.4 63.7 67.9 14 Philippines 71,899 3.5 63.1 66.7 15 Turkey 62,697 2.6 63.3 66.0 16 Iran 61,128 5.3 58.4 59.7 17 Egypt 60,603 3.6 62.9 66.4 18 Thailand 60,003 1.8 63.8 68.9 19 United Kingdom 58,784 1.7 74.1 79.3 20 Ethiopia 58,506 7.0 45.9 49.1 21 France 58,375 1.7 73.3 81.4 22 Italy 57,399 1.2 74.1 80.5 23 Ukraine 51,094 1.4 62.8 73.2 24 Myanmar 45,922 3.6 57.9 63.1 25 Republic of Korea 45,545 1.7 67.7 75.7
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NOTE:The Demographic Yearbook 1996 (Sales No. E/F.98.XIII.1) may be ordered from the Sales Section, United Nations, New York or Geneva, or through major booksellers throughout the world. The price is $125 (price in other currencies may vary). A reference copy may be consulted by accredited correspondents at the press documents counter at Headquarters. The address of the United Nations Statistics Division home page is http://www.UN.ORG/Depts/UNSD.