World Mortality Report 2005

The Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat is responsible for providing the international community with up-to-date and scientifically objective information about population and development. According to its mandate, the Population Division provides guidance on these issues to the United Nations General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council, and the Commission on Population and Development. It also undertakes regular studies on population levels and trends, population estimates and projections, population policies and population and development interrelationships. In particular, the Population Division is concerned with the following substantive areas: the study of patterns of fertility, mortality, international and internal migration, including their levels, trends, and differentials, as well as their causes and consequences; analysis of mortality patterns as a function of age, sex, and cause of death; analysis of fertility patterns as a function of age and parity, and in terms of its proximate determinants (e.g., marriage, contraceptive use); estimates and projections of population size, spatial distribution, and age and sex structure; the documentation and analysis of population policies at the national and international levels; and the study of the relation hip between socio-economic development and population change. The work of the Population Division is published in a variety of formats, including electronically, in order to meet the needs of diverse audiences. These publications and materials are used by Governments, national and international organizations, researchers, social and economic planners, educators, and the general public. This report is the first of its kind to be issued on topics related to mortality and health. It presents information on mortality risks, life expectancy, maternal mortality, HIV prevalence, and national policies with respect to such topics for 192 countries. The data are compiled from civil registration, population censuses, nationally representative sample surveys and, in the case of national policies, Governments' responses to United Nations inquiries and other sources. For each country, available data on 19 indicators are presented in tabular form. In most cases, this information is provided for two dates (around 1970 and around 2000). In addition, time series of life expectancy at birth and the infant mortality rate from various sources are presented for each country in graphical form. Available estimates of these two indicators are compared Ion the graphs with estimates presented in World Population Prospects. The 2004 Revision. The Population Division gratefully acknowledges the assistance and cooperation of the United Nations Statistics Division, the World Health Organization, UNICEF, UNFPA, UNAIDS, the Council of Europe, EUROSTAT, ORC Macro, the International Programs Center of the U.S. Census Bureau, the Human Mortality Database (University of California at Berkeley and Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research), and national statistical offices in providing the different data presented in this report.