The first two sections of this appendix described methods for evaluating base data and making projections, without reference to the data situations actually encountered in the various countries. This section reviews the availability of data for the current round of projections as presented in this report.
This report presents population estimates and projections for 227 countries or areas of the world. Of these 227 countries, 179 have information on fertility pertaining to some date since 1985, 167 countries have recent data on population size and 172 on mortality (tables B-2a, B-3a and B-4a). In previous publications, it was reported that fertility data were obtained on a more frequent basis than mortality or population data. Currently, however, more recent data have been available on mortality and population size.
Not surprisingly, the more developed countries have the most recent data on population size, fertility, and mortality. All developed countries have data on population size and mortality since 1985, and all except Monaco have fertility data pertaining to 1985 or later that were considered for the projections in this report. Sub-Saharan Africa has the smallest proportion of countries with data for 1985 or later on all topics.
Perhaps more important than the number of countries with recent information on population size, fertility, and mortality is the proportion of the world's population covered by such information.
As seen in table B-3b, 91 percent of the world's people live in countries with data on fertility that pertain to 1985 or later. The proportion is higher in North Africa (96 percent), Asia (96 percent), and the regions of North America, Europe and the New Independent States, and Latin America and the Caribbean (100 percent).
With many countries taking censuses during the 1990 round and the rapid processing of results by computer, information on population size is also available for a large portion of the world's population. Eighty-nine percent of the world's people live in countries with at least population totals available for 1985 or later.
For mortality, about 69 percent of the world's population is covered by information since 1985 (table B-4b). However, the available mortality data often pertain only to infants and children and not to the adult population. Nearly one-third of the population of the Near East and 21 percent of that of Sub-Saharan Africa live in countries for which we lack reliable mortality data since 1980.
In the population projections presented in this report, information on the prevalence of family planning is not used directly as input in the computer model. Nevertheless, a knowledge of the extent of contraceptive use and the strength of national family planning programs is an important consideration when setting future target levels and age patterns of fertility for the projections.
Recent data on the current use of family planning methods are gathered primarily by surveys such as the DHS program of Macro International, Inc. and the various family health and contraceptive prevalence surveys of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. In addition, some countries conduct other national surveys, either for the specific purpose of gathering information on family planning or for other purposes, such as collecting data on maternal and child health. These surveys often include questions about contraceptive use.
In contrast to the practice of collecting information on population size, fertility,and mortality, the gathering of data on contraceptive use is a fairly recent phenomenon. Nonetheless, the practice is becoming more widespread, and many of the larger countries in developing regions now provide such data. Of the 171 countries in developing regions, 92 (54 percent) have gathered information on family planning for some date since 1985, and another 13 (8 percent) during the early 1980's (table B-5a).
Differences among the regions have narrowed. The proportion of countries with information available for 1985 or later ranges from 59 percent in Sub-Saharan Africa to 66 percent in North Africa. In the developing regions of the Near East, Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean, just around 60 percent of countries have contraceptive data available for 1985 or later.
It is primarily the larger countries in each region that gather information on contraceptive use, as shown by the larger proportions of populations than of countries covered by available data. Thus, 94 percent of the population in less developed regions is covered by such data since 1985, with the proportions in North Africa and Asia, excluding the Near East, over 95 percent. Even in Sub-Saharan Africa, information on contraceptive use for 1985 or later is available for 84 percent of the population (table B-5b).
Table 2b. Distribution of Population by Region and Recency of Reliable Data on Population Size
Table 3a. Distribution of Countries by Region and Recency of Reliable Data on Fertility
Table 3b. Distribution of Population by Region and Recency of Reliable Data on Fertility
Table 4a. Distribution of Countries by Region and Recency of Reliable Data on Mortality
Table 4b. Distribution of Population by Region and Recency of Reliable Data on Mortality
Table 5a. Distribution of Countries by Region and Recency of Reliable Data on Contraceptive Prevalence
Table 5b. Distribution of Population by Region and Recency of Reliable Data on Contraceptive Prevalence
