Model Life Tables for Developing Countries

This is Population Studies No. 77 for the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs Survivorship functions vary among countries and change differently during the universal process of mortality decline; these variations can be broadly classified in regional patterns. Age patterns of mortality in developing countries differ from those of historical European experience; moreover, the developing world is diverse. This publication describes the methodology and use of model life tables for estimating the national age pattern of mortality in a country when direct data is missing. The database of model life tables contained in the volume became an indispensable tool for many demographers. It is related to The concept of a stable population: application to the study of populations of countries with incomplete demographic statistics, Manual X and cluster Population Projections.