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The Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs has recently prepared The World Mortality Report 2005. The main objective of this report is to compile and summarize available information about levels and trends of mortality and life expectancy for national populations.
Aside from a comparison of mortality data from different sources, the report permits an assessment of gaps in information. This exercise can provide crucial insights, especially given the ongoing efforts to combat child mortality and HIV/AIDS necessary to reach the United Nations Millenium Development Goals and the need for data to validate progress made in these areas.
The World Mortality Report 2005 provides a broad overview of mortality changes in all countries of the world during the latter half of the 20th century. It is the first report of its kind produced by the United Nations Population Division. Previous studies have analyzed levels and trends in mortality covering all regions of the world, and there have been other compendia of detailed mortality statistics. However, this report is the first attempt to document mortality levels and trends across the full age range for all countries of the world, also including an explicit comparison of mortality estimates from a variety of sources.
Given the ambitious scope of the project, the report has certain limitations, which are acknowledged in its introduction. Although it summarizes a vast body of data from many sources, the collection of mortality estimates presented in the report is not exhaustive. Most of the included data were already available in an electronic format. Furthermore, data for the various countries are not fully uniform in terms of their source, quality or manner of calculation. Therefore, it is important to be cautious about the comparability of the mortality estimates for different countries and time periods. Despite these limitations, the report provides a useful starting point for future studies of mortality levels and trends in all countries of the world.
It shows the strong impact of social unequalities on the life expectancy at world level. While for most of the countries, life expectancy is regulraly increasing, it is decreasing very sharply in South African countries. A significant decrease in life expectancy is also observed in the Russian Federation, Bielorussia and Ukraine.
Source: Department of Economic and Social Affairs, UNO.
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