International Programs

International Data Base

The International Data Base (IDB) offers a variety of demographic indicators for countries and areas of the world with a population of 5,000 or more. The IDB has provided access to demographic data for over 25 years to governments, academics, other organizations, and the public. It is funded by organizations that sponsor the research of the Census Bureau"s International Programs Center for Demographic and Economic Studies. For more information and all the Release Notes see the Frequently Asked Questions page.

Release Notes: March 2000

This release of the International Data Base included new demographic estimates and/or projections for all countries. The major changes made were as follows:

1. New data from censuses, surveys, and vital registration systems. New data have been analyzed and incorporated into these updated estimates and projections.

2. Revised trends for mortality change and upper limits on life expectancy. Most countries were assumed to follow a fixed pattern of change in life expectancy by sex based on the most recent level of mortality and observed changes in recent years. In addition, the upper limits to life expectancy were raised to 82.56 for males and 88.40 for females.

3. Revised trends for fertility change. For most countries, the long-term level of TFR was determined based on the most recent observed level:

Most recent level   Long-term level  
TFR >= 3.0               2.0  
2.0 <= TFR < 3.0         1.7  
TFR < 2.0                1.7  

4. Revised AIDS mortality. The number of countries where the impact of AIDS is explicitly included in our projections has been raised to 34 as follows:

 Africa (26)                                     Asia (3)    LAC (5)  
*Benin                Ethiopia    Rwanda         Burma      *Bahamas    
 Botswana            *Gabon       South Africa   Cambodia    Brazil  
 Burkina Faso        *Ghana       Swaziland      Thailand    Guyana  
 Burundi              Kenya       Tanzania                   Haiti  
 Cameroon             Lesotho    *Togo                       Honduras  
 CAR                  Malawi      Uganda        
 Cote d'Ivoire       *Mozambique  Zambia  
 Congo (Brazzaville)  Namibia     Zimbabwe   
 Congo (Kinshasa)     Nigeria      

* Newly included since the last revision.         

5. Revised U.S. projections. The U.S. data in this version of the IDB is based on the U.S. Census Burea's most recent "middle" projection series with the Armed Forces Overseas added. For more information on the U.S. projections, see the National Population Projections page.

Release notes history