Generating, analyzing and disseminating population data is a critical process for sound and successful development policies and programmes.

—Thoraya A. Obaid

Information about a country's population, growth, movement, characteristics, living conditions, spatial distribution and physical resources is vital for rational policy formulation, planning and implementation. For this reason, the collection and analysis of population and development data constitute a fundamental part of policy-related activities. Over the past two decades, many countries have made demonstrable progress in obtaining such data through censuses, demographic and specialized surveys and registers. Yet, much remains to be done to analyze and utilize data collected in a way that serves population and development policy-making.

Planners need data, information and analysis on the different population and development issues for the purposes of:

• Assessing demographic trends


• Assessing the socio-economic situation of women


• Designing evidence-based population policies, strategies and programmes


• Integrating population factors into development planning


• Monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of policies and programmes and progress toward national and international development goals


• Raising awareness about population issues among government decision makers and the population at large

The capacity to produce reliable data has long been an institutional priority for UNFPA, which works closely with the UN Statistics Division and other UN and development partners in this arena. Now, with world attention focused on achieving the Millennium Development Goals within the next decade, consistent and relevant information plays an even more prominent role.

Each of the Millennium Development Goals is associated with measurable targets and indicators that are used to gauge progress. These indicators depend on accurate data that can be collected, disaggregated and analyzed according to international standards. These standards also enable comparisons among countries and over time.

The 2005 Expert Report on achieving the MDGs, commissioned by the UN Secretary General, calls for strengthening the statistical capacity at the country-level “to run population and household censuses, conduct household surveys, set up vital statistics and health information systems, and compile indicators on agriculture, education, and the economy among other areas.”

Minding the Gaps

Data collection and analysis, particularly population and housing censuses yield rich dividends, but can at times be rather a complicated, lengthy and expensive process requiring considerable human capacity in statistics and cartography and investments in training and technology.

Developed countries have a wealth of computerized data banks and registry systems that they can mine to model demographic and economic trends. But many developing and least developed countries lack baseline data and have very spotty record-keeping systems.

Despite great improvement in data collection and analysis, even basic demographic indicators provided by many countries are not always reliable and may be incomplete, or difficult to obtain. This so-called ‘data barrier’ is an obstacle for planners in many developing countries. While 85 per cent of people live in countries that have conducted a census since 1980, only 30 per cent live in countries that use reliable civil registration systems to record births.

UNFPA at Work

UNFPA recently contributed both technically and financially to two major data collection and analysis activities in Ecuador: The 2004 National Demographic and Health Survey and the Ministry of Social Welfare’s National System of Social Indicators on Youth (known as SIJOVEN). The SIJOVEN exercise will document the situation of Ecuadorian youth and strengthen accountability in addressing youth issues. Youth groups have been involved in its design and in the training provided to national and local authorities.

Page last updated: 15 December 2005