The statistical tables in this year's State of World Population report once again give special attention to indicators that can help track progress in meeting the quantitative and qualitative goals of the International Conference on Population and Development in the areas of mortality reduction, access to education, and access to reproductive health services, including family planning. Future reports will include different process measures when these become available, as ICPD follow-up efforts lead to improved monitoring systems. Improved monitoring of the financial contributions of governments, non-governmental organizations and the private sector should also allow better future reporting of expenditures and resource mobilization for ICPD implementation efforts. The sources for the indicators and their rationale for selection follow, by category.

Infant mortality, male and female life expectancy at birth. Source: United Nations Population Division. 1999. World Population Prospects: The 1998 Revision (Data diskettes, "Demographic Indicators 1950-2050"). New York: United Nations. These indicators are measures of mortality levels, respectively, in the first year of life (which is most sensitive to development levels) and over the entire lifespan.

Maternal mortality ratio. Source: Data compiled from WHO, UNICEF, the World Bank and national sources as published in The World Bank. 2000. World Development Indicators 2000. Washington, D.C.: Oxford Press. This indicator presents the number of deaths to women per 100,000 live births which result from conditions related to pregnancy, delivery and related complications. Precision is difficult, though relative magnitudes are informative. Estimates below 50 are not rounded; those 50-100 are rounded to the nearest 5; 100-1,000, to the nearest 10; and above 1,000, to the nearest 100. Several of the estimates differ from official government figures. The estimates are based on reported figures wherever possible, using approaches to improve the comparability of information from different sources. See the source for details on the origin of particular national estimates. Estimates and methodologies are being reviewed by WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, academic institutions and other agencies and will be revised where necessary, as part of the ongoing process of improving maternal mortality data.TATE OF WORLD POPULATION 2000

Male and female gross primary enrolment ratios, male and female gross secondary enrolment ratios. Source: Spreadsheets provided by UNESCO; data published in the World Education Report series; as updated in 1999 UNESCO Statistical Yearbook. Paris: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Gross enrolment ratios indicate the number of students enrolled in a level in the education system per 100 individuals in the appropriate age group. They do not correct for individuals who are older than the level-appropriate age due to late starts, interrupted schooling or grade repetition.

Male and female adult illiteracy. Source: Spreadsheets provided by UNESCO; data published in the Education for All: Status and Trends series; Paris: UNESCO. Illiteracy definitions are subject to variation in different countries; three widely accepted definitions are in use. In so far as possible, data refer to the proportion who cannot, with understanding, both read and write a short simple statement on everyday life. Adult illiteracy (rates for persons above 15 years of age) reflects both recent levels of educational enrolment and past educational attainment. The above education indicators have been updated using the UN Population Division estimates from World Population Prospects (The 1998 Revision). Education data are most recent, ranging from 1982-1998.

Per cent reaching grade 5 of primary education. Source: Spreadsheets provided by UNESCO; data are published in the World Education Report series. Paris: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Studies of patterns of drop-out show high consistency between completing 5th grade and completing primary school. We report the former, following our source (identified as "Survival rate to grade 5"). Data are most recent within the years 1980-1998.

Indicators of Reproductive Health

Contraceptive knowledge. Source: United Nations Population Division. 1996. World Population Monitoring 1996. New York: United Nations. These indicators, derived from sample survey reports, estimate the proportion of women who have knowledge of a method of family planning and know a source from which contraceptives can be obtained. All contraceptive methods (medical, barrier, natural and traditional) are included in the first indicator; source information is more relevant to medical and barrier contraceptives and to modern periodic abstinence methods. These numbers are generally but not completely comparable across countries due to variation in populations surveyed by age (15- to 49-year-old women being most common) and marital status (e.g., currently or ever-married women, or all women) and in the timing of the surveys. Most of the data were collected during 1987-1994.

Births per 1,000 women aged 15-19. Source: United Nations Population Division. 1999. World Population Prospects: The 1998 Revision (Data diskettes, "Demographic Indicators 1950-2050"); and United Nations Population Division. 1998. Age Patterns of Fertility: The 1998 Revision. New York: United Nations. This is an indicator of the burden of fertility on young women. Since it is an annual level summed over all women in the age cohort, it does not reflect fully the level of fertility for women during their youth. Since it indicates the annual average number of births per woman per year, one could multiply it by five to approximate the number of births to 1,000 young women during their late teen years. The measure does not indicate the full dimensions of teen pregnancy as only live births are included in the numerator. Stillbirths and spontaneous or induced abortions are not reflected.

Contraceptive prevalence. Source: United Nations Population Division. 1998. Contraceptive Trends and Levels 1998 (wallchart). New York: United Nations. These data are derived from sample survey reports and estimate the proportion of married women (including women in consensual unions) currently using, respectively, any method or modern methods of contraception. Modern or clinic and supply methods include male and female sterilization, IUD, the pill, injectables, hormonal implants, condoms and female barrier methods. These numbers are roughly but not completely comparable across countries due to variation in populations surveyed by age (15- to 49-year-old women being most common; slightly more than half of the database), in the timing of the surveys, and in the details of the questions. All of the data were collected in 1975 or later. The most recent survey data available are cited; nearly 80 per cent of the data refer to the period 1987-1996.

Total population 2000, projected population 2025, average annual population growth rate for 1995-2000. Source: United Nations Population Division. 1999. World Population Prospects: The 1998 Revision. (Data diskettes, "Demographic Indicators 1950-2050"); and United Nations Population Division. 1998. Annual Populations 1950-2050: The 1998 Revision. New York: United Nations. These indicators present the size, projected future size and current period annual growth of national populations.

Per cent urban, urban growth rates. Source: United Nations Population Division. 1996. World Urbanization Prospects: The 1996 Revision. New York: United Nations. These indicators reflect the proportion of the national population living in urban areas and the growth rate in urban areas projected for 1995-2000.

Agricultural population per hectare of arable and permanent crop land. Source: Data provided by Food and Agriculture Organization, using agricultural population data based on the total populations from United Nations Population Division. 1999. World Population Prospects: The 1998 Revision. New York: United Nations. This indicator relates the size of the agricultural population to the land suitable for agricultural production. It is responsive to changes in both the structure of national economies (proportions of the workforce in agriculture) and in technologies for land development. High values can be related to stress on land productivity and to fragmen-tation of land holdings. However, the measure is also sensitive to differing development levels and land use policies. Data refer to the year 1997.

Total fertility rate (period: 1995-2000). Source: United Nations Population Division. 1999. World Population Prospects: The 1998 Revision. (Data diskettes, "Demographic Indicators 1950-2050".) New York: United Nations. The measure indicates the number of children a woman would have during her reproductive years if she bore children at the rate estimated for different age groups in the specified time period. Countries may reach the projected level at different points within the period.

Access to basic care. Note: This indicator has been omitted from this year's report due to interagency concern about its reliability and validity. Consultations about an appropriate alternate indicator of access to health care are anticipated.

Births with skilled attendants. Source: World Health Organization; updated information provided by WHO. This indicator is based on national reports of the proportion of births attended by "skilled health personnel or skilled attendant: doctors (specialist or non-specialist) and/or persons with mid-wifery skills who can diagnose and manage obstetrical complications as well as normal deliveries". Data estimates are the most recent available.

Gross national product per capita. Source: 1998 figures from: The World Bank. 2000. World Development Indicators 2000. Washington, D.C.: The World Bank. This indicator measures the total output of goods and services for final use produced by residents and non-residents, regardless of allocation to domestic and foreign claims, in relation to the size of the population. As such, it is an indicator of the economic productivity of a nation. It differs from gross domestic product by further adjusting for income received from abroad for labour and capital by residents, for similar payments to non-residents, and by incorporating various technical adjustments including those related to exchange rate changes over time. This measure also takes into account the differing purchasing power of currencies by including purchasing power parity (PPP) adjustments of "real GNP". Some PPP figures are based on regression models; others are extrapolated from the latest International Comparison Programme benchmark estimates; see original source for details.

Central government expenditures on education and health. Source: The World Bank. 2000. World Development Indicators 2000. Washington, D.C.: The World Bank. These indicators reflect the priority afforded to education and health sectors by a country through the government expenditures dedicated to them. They are not sensitive to differences in allocations within sectors, e.g., primary education or health services in relation to other levels, which vary considerably. Direct comparability is complicated by the different administrative and budgetary responsibilities allocated to central governments in relation to local governments, and to the varying roles of the private and public sectors. Reported estimates are calculated from source data on public education spending as a share of GNP, per capita health expenditures (in PPP adjusted dollars) and the share of health expenditure from public sources. Data refer to the most recent estimates 1990-1998.

External assistance for population. Source: UNFPA. 1999. Global Population Assistance Report 1997. New York: UNFPA. This figure provides the amount of external assistance expended in 1997 for population activities in each country. External funds are disbursed through multilateral and bilateral assistance agencies and by non-governmental organizations. Donor countries are indicated by their contributions being placed in parentheses. Future editions of this report will use other indicators to provide a better basis for comparing and evaluating resource flows in support of population and reproductive health programmes from various national and international sources. Regional totals include both country-level projects and regional activities (not otherwise reported in the table).

Under-5 mortality. Source: United Nations Population Division, special tabulation based on United Nations. 1999. World Population Prospects: The 1998 Revision. New York: United Nations. This indicator relates to the incidence of mortality to infants and young children. It reflects, therefore, the impact of diseases and other causes of death on infants, toddlers and young children. More standard demographic measures are infant mortality and mortality rates for 1 to 4 years of age, which reflect differing causes of and frequency of mortality in these ages. The measure is more sensitive than infant mortality to the burden of childhood diseases, including those preventable by improved nutrition and by immunization programmes. Under-5 mortality is here expressed as deaths to children under 5 per 1,000 live births in a given year. The estimate refers to the period 1995-2000.

Per capita energy consumption. Source: The World Bank. 1999. World Development Indicators 1999. Washington, D.C.: The World Bank. This indicator reflects annual consumption of commercial primary energy (coal, lignite, petroleum, natural gas and hydro, nuclear and geothermal electricity) in kilograms of oil equivalent per capita. It reflects the level of industrial development, the structure of the economy and patterns of consumption. Changes over time can reflect changes in the level and balance of various economic activities and changes in the efficiency of energy use (including decreases or increases in wasteful consumption). Data are for 1996.

Access to safe water. Source: WHO/UNICEF. Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Monitoring Report 1996. This indicator reports the percentage of the population with access to an adequate amount of safe drinking water located within a convenient distance from the user's dwelling. The italicized words use country-level definitions. It is related to exposure to health risks, including those resulting from improper sanitation. Data are from 1990-1994.

TECHNICAL NOTES

Editorial Team

Editor: Alex Marshall

Research and Writing: Stan Bernstein

Managing Editor: William A. Ryan

Editorial Research: Reed Boland, Wendy Harcourt, Karen Hardee and Ann McCauley

Editorial Assistant: Phyllis Brachman

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