VITAL STATISTICS

Vital statistics are the numerical records, analysis and interpretation of

numerical data or vital events.

Vital events are the events that in human

occur population.
Eg: Birth, Death, sickness, marriage etc

The statistical study of human population is called Demography

Methods of obtaining vital statistics

Vital statistics can be obtained by the following methods:

1) Registration method
2) census enumeration method

Registration method

Registration method is a continuous permanent and cornpulsoryy

recording of vital events due to the legal importance.

For eg. f a child is born, the matter is reported to the health authoities

along with the information like sex of the child, age of the mother,

etc. similarly if a person dies, the matter is reported to the

religion
authorities along with the information like name of the
corporation
person deceased(died), age, sex, father's name, nature of death,

place of death. Etc

Census enumeration method:

of unit in the
Census method is complete enumeration every

population. It is usually conducted once in ten years. Here the details

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regarding age, sex, literacy occupation, religion, martial status,
monthly income and other details are recorded.

The disadvantage of this method is that it may be accurate for the

census year and that too only for the census period.

Uses of vital statistics

1. Studies population trend:

Vital statistics are used to study the changing patterns of births,
deaths, divorce, etc. over a period of time.

2. Used for administration purpose:

Records of births, deaths, and other vital
events are useful to the
government planning economic activities.
in

3. Used by Researchers:
Records of vital statistics are useful indemographic research.
For eg. Research in medicines
by pharmacists for diseases like
Aids, cancer etc.

4. Used by organisations
Records concerning of all possible factors contributing to deaths
in various ages are essential in all "life insurance" schemes.

Fertility:
Fertility refers to the births occurring to women of child
bearing
age i.e ( 15-49)yrs

Fecundity:
Fecundity refers to "

the capacity of a woman to bear children"

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Fertility rates
The different types of
fertility rates are
1) Crude Birth Rate (C.B.R)
2) General Fertility Rate ( G.F.R.)
3) Age Specific Fertility Rate( A.S.F.R)
4) Total Fertility Rate (TFR)

Crude birth rate:

Its defined as 'the average of live briths

no. occuring to 1000 population
It is given by
C.B.R. No.of live births x 1000
Total population
Advantages
1. It is simple to understand and easy to calculate
2. It does not need detailed information for computation
3. It indicates the rate of growth of population due to live births.

Disadvantages:

1) it ignores the age and sex distribution of the population.

2) It cannot be used to compare birth rates of two or more
populations.
3) It takes both men and women population into consideration.

General fertility rate:

It is defined as " the average number of live births occurring to

one thousand women in child bearing age ( 15-49) yrs.

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 It is given by

G.F.R. =
No. of live births x 1000
Total female population in child bearing age
Advantages:
1) It considers only female population in the child bearing age.
2) It considers the sex
composition of the population and also the
age composition to a certain extent.

Disadvantages:
1) it does not consider age composition in the child bearing age.
2) it cannot be used to
compare fertility rates of two or more
populations.

Age specific fertility rate:

It is defined as "the average number of live births
occuring to one
thousand women population of a specific age group ".

Advantages:
1. It considers both age and
composition of the population.
sex
2. It can be used for comparison of
fertility among the age groups in
the same population.
3. It is used in computation of T.F.R.

Disadvantages:
1) it cannot be used for comparison of fertility of different
populations.
2) it does not indicate the
growth of population due to births.

Total fertility Rate

T.F.R is used for the comparison of fertility of different populations.

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It is given by
T.F.R. 5X A.S.F.R

Advantages:
1. It is used for comparing the fertility rates of different

populations.
2. It gives due weightage to age composition.

Disadvantages:

It does not indicate the rate of growth of population due to births.

1)
survive throught the
2) It is based on an assumption that all women

child bearing age.

Reproduction Rates:
The fertility rates are unsuitable for giving an idea of the rate of

growth of population because they ignore the sex of the newly born
child and their mortality.
If mortality is ignored we may not get the correct rate of growth

of population.

For measuring the rate of growth of population we calculate the

reproduction rates.

Reproduction rates are of two types.

1) Gross production rate( G.R.R)
2) Net Reproduction Rate ( N.R.R.)

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G.R.R.
children
It is defined as
"

a measure of the average number of female

that a woman is expected to give birth during her entire reproductive

span, ifthere is no mortality".

It is given by

G.R.R=ix W.S.F.R
If G.R.R. is 1, it indicates that the current generation of females will

maintain itself.

But, If it is less than 1, the population would decline and if it is

more

than 1, the population would increase.

Advantages:
1. It is useful for comparing fertility in different areas or in the same

area at different time periods.

2. It considers only the female babies, who are the future mothers.

Disadvantages
1) It ignores the current mortality

N.R.R.
It is d e f i n e d a s " t h e a v e r a g e n u m b e r of d a u g h t e r s t h a t w o u l d b e b o r n t o

a female, if she passed through her life time.

It is given by,

N.R.R i x W.S.F.R XS

Advantages
1. It takes into account current fertility and current mortality.
2. It will show a tendency of increase or decrease in population.

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Disadvantages:
1. It does not
consider age and sex distribution of the population.
2.It cannot be used to
compare mortality of different
populations.
A.S.D.R.:
It is defined the
average no of deaths occurring in a given age
as

group per thousand population.

A.S.D.R. =
No of deaths in a specific age group x10000
Total population in that specific age group
Advantages:
1. It considers age composition of the
population.
2. It is used in the computation of S.T.D.R..

Disadvantages
1) A.S.D.R. cannot be used for overall comparison of mortality in
two different regions.
2) It ignores social and occupational factors.

Standardized Death Rate (St. D.R.)

St. D.R. is theweighted average of A.S.D.R'S of population by taking

standard population as weights.

Here, one particular population is taken as standard. The standard

population can be one of the given populations under study or any
other population. After the standard population is decided we calculate
St. D.R. for the two regions by using the
following formulas.
St DR (A) =PA AND St. D.R(B) =
PB
P P

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Disadvantages:
1) It assumes constant rates of fertility and mortality over a generation

2) It cannot be used for forecasting future population.

Mortality:

Mortality refers to deaths occurring in the population. The deaths may

be due to sickness, accidents, old age etc.

Measurement of mortality:
The following the
are
important measures of mortality
1) Crude Death Rate ( C.D.R.)
2) Age Specific Death Rate (A.S.D.R.)
3) Standardized Death Rate (St. D.R.)
4) Infant Mortality Rate ( I.M.R.)
5) Neo-natal Mortality Rate ( N. M. R.)
6) Maternal Mortality Rate ( M .M. R.)

Crude death rate ( C.D.R.)

It is Defined the average number of deaths

as
occurring in the year
per thousand population.It is given
by

C.D.R.= No.of deaths x 1000

Total population
Advantages
1. It is
simple to understand and easy
2. It does not
to calculate
requires detailed information for
It indicates rate of decrease of
computation.
population due to deaths
Advantages:
1. It is good measure of
mortality.
2. It can be used for comparison of mortality of two or more
populations.

Disadvantages:
1) It requires standard population and it is difficult to select std.
population.

Infant Mortality Rate ( 1.M.R.)

It is defined a s " the average number of Infant deaths per thousand live

births
It is given by,

I.M.R.=No. of deaths amonginfants x 1000

Total number of live births

I.M.R. Indicates the level of health, nutrition and socio economic

development of a region.

Neo Natal Mortality Rate ( N.M.R.)

It i s d e f i n e d a s " average number of neo natal deaths per thousand live

births.
N.M.R. Number of deaths among neo natalbabiesx 1000
Total number of live births
Here, neonatal babies means babies aged less than 28 days

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Maternal Mortality Rate ( M. M. R)
It is defiend as " average number of d e a t h s among mothers due to

causes relating to child birth per thousand live births"

M.M.R= No of deaths among females

due to
Maternal causes x 1000
Total number of live births.

M.M.R. is the index of the general healthiness of female population of

child bearing age.

Life tables:

The life table gives the life history of a cohort as it is gradually

diminished by deaths.

Life table is a tabular presentation of numerical data describing

the mortality experience of a cohort.

Cohort: Cohort is a group of individuals who are born at the same tinme
and who experience the same motality conditions.

Radix: Radix is the size of the cohort ( Generally 100000).

Longevity : Longevity is the expected number of years that a new born

baby would live.

Uses of a life table

1. Life tables are used by life insurance companies to determine the
rates of premium for policies.
2. It is used for the measurement of
growth of population.

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 3. It is used for estimating the future population.
4. It is used by the governments and private sorganisations.
5. It is used for analyzing the effects of mortality.

Components of a life table:

A typical life table has the following components

3 4 5 6 7
1 2
Tx ex
X x Dx qx Px Lx

X: The age of a person i.e x = 0,1,2,3,.. .

lo is the radix.
Ix: The no. of persons living at age x. Thus,
x, who die before
dx: The no of persons among lx persons reaching age

reaching the age x+1.

x and x*1
x Thus dx
= lx Ix*1 ie the
- no of persons dying between age

x years will die

before
that a person of exact age
qx: The probability

reaching the age ( x*1) years.

Thus qx dx =
mortality ratio
Ix
of age x survives upto agex+ 1.
Px: The probability that a person

xt1 survival ratio

Thus, Px =1-qx =
1-dx
Ix Ix

aggregate by the cohort of lo

lived in the
Lx: The number of years
Thus, Lx =
x +lxt1
= lx- dx
between age x and x+1
persons
2 2
x. Thus
Tx: Total no. of years lived by cohort after attaining age
Tx = Lx+Lx+1+Lx+2+..

excomplete expectation oflife.

Thus e = Ix

Lx

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