The United Nations Demographic Yearbook

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Expert Group Meeting to Review the United
Nations Demographic Yearbook System 10-14
November 2003 New York

• The United Nations Demographic Yearbook
• Data Collection Process

Demographic and Social Statistics Branch United
Nations Statistics Division
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Issues Covered

• What is collected?
• How it is collected?
• Review of the DYB data collection process and
  findings
• Points for discussion

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Anticipated Result

• What other collaborative arrangements can be
  identified with other organizations, regions?
• How frequently should meta data be collected from
  countries?
• How relevant and adequate is the information
  being collected to meeting user needs?
• How easily available is the information being
  requested in countries?
• What other changes are needed to improve the data
  collection process?

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• How are the data for the Demographic Yearbook
  obtained?

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How Data Are Obtained

• Directly from countries using questionnaires
• Joint collection with other agencies
• From another organisation
• From national publications and other sources

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Directly From Countries Using Questionnaires

• Six questionnaires are sent to national
  statistical offices
• Annual questionnaires (Population estimates,
  vital statistics, international migration and
  travel statistics)
• Census questionnaires (General characteristics,
  economic characteristics, household
  characteristics)

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Joint Collection With Other Agencies

• Arrangement between UNSD, Eurostat and Council of
  Europe
• In 1999 joint questionnaire was introduced to
  replace 4 questionnaires used by the three
  organisations
• Each agency is responsible for processing and
  dissemination of data for their specific purposes

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Obtained From Another Organisation

• UNSD obtains causes of death data in
  electronic format from WHO

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From National Publication and Other Sources

• Publications
• Official websites of national statistical offices
• Through technical assistance activities

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Follow-up Mechanisms and Dead-lines

• Questionnaires dispatched in October/November
• Dead-line set for March with reminder letter sent
  in February
• Joint questionnaire sent in July with deadline
  set for September

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• What type of data are collected by the
  Demographic Yearbook system?

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Format and Content of Questionnaires

• Three-part format of questionnaires
• General instructions
• Statistical tables
• Meta data
• Variable table structure and complexity (single
  variable to multi-variable)
• Voluminous but comprehensive set of data (around
  75 tables on about 100 main topics)

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Meta Data

• To ascertain quality of data and methods used
• Definitions
• Sources of data
• Coverage
• Quality
• Methods of estimation
• Completeness

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• The review of the Demographic Yearbook data
  collection system

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Reviews of the Data Collection System

• Reasons for reviews
• Consistency with international guidelines
• Relevance and adequacy of what is collected
• Content of tabulations with regard to
• Table structure
• Classifications used
• Variables included in tables
• Concepts and definitions used

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Main Findings of the Reviews

• Lack of consistency between tables in
  questionnaires and in international
  recommendations
• Differences in concepts
• Differences in classifications
• International classification
• Classification of variables
• Population coverage
• Lack of internal consistency

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• How can the Demographic Yearbook data collection
  system be improved?

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Points for Discussion

• What other collaborative arrangements can be
  identified with other organizations, regions?
• How frequently should meta data be collected from
  countries?
• How relevant and adequate is the information
  being collected to meeting user needs?
• How easily available is the information being
  requested in countries?
• What other changes are needed to improve the data
  collection process?