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Adult Mortality in Asia

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International Handbook of Adult Mortality

Part of the book series: International Handbooks of Population ((IHOP,volume 2))

Abstract

Asia, the largest and most populous continent in the world, has experienced a rapid demographic transition since the end of World War II. According to a recent estimate by the United Nations Population Division (UN Population Division 2009), between 1950–1955 and 2005–2010 life expectancy at birth in Asia has increased from 41 to 69 years and the total fertility rate has fallen from 5.7 to 2.4 children per woman. Largely driven by these changes, Asia’s population size has nearly tripled. More than four billion people, accounting for 60% of the world total, now live in some 50 countries and areas in Asia (UN Population Division 2009).

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Detailed adult mortality data used in this comparison have been provided by the WHO and the UN Population Division. The relative difference between the two sets of adult mortality is computed using \(({}_{45}^{}q_{15}^{{\textrm{WHO}},2007} - {}_{45}^{}q_{15}^{{\textrm{UN}},2005 - 10} ) \div {}_{45}^{}q_{15}^{{\textrm{WHO}},2007} \).

  2. 2.

    There are clear differences between mortality estimates for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea made by the WHO and the UN Population Division. According to the WHO, life expectancies were 64.5 for males and 68.4 for females in 1990, and 64.4 for males and 68.4 for females in 2007 (WHO 2009a). According to the latest estimates made by the UN Population Division, life expectancies were 66.1 for males and 73.6 for females in 1990–1995, and 65.1 for males and 69.3 for females in 2005–2010 (UN Population Division 2009).

  3. 3.

    The data for Taiwan are reported by the Taiwanese government.

  4. 4.

    In this and the following two paragraphs, I use life expectancies at birth and sex ratios of adult mortality that are computed from mortality estimates for 2000–2005 made by the UN Population Division as an approximation to compare with mortality statistics for 2007 calculated from the data obtained from the WHO, because detailed adult mortality estimates for 2005–2010 are not available. The statistics for developed countries, Eastern European countries, and least developed countries are published by the UN Population Division, and the WHO has a different way of grouping its member countries. According to the latest estimate made by the UN Population Division, life expectancy at birth is around 77 years in more developed regions in the world (UN Population Division 2009).

  5. 5.

    The ratios for the Asian populations are derived from data provided by the WHO, and those for the three European regions are computed using the estimates made by the UN Population Division in 2006. Even if the UN estimates are used to compute the ratios for the Asian populations, the conclusion persists.

  6. 6.

    Further information about the WHO’s classifications of regional groups can be found on its website and in many of its publications.

  7. 7.

    The comparison was made on the basis of mortality data provided by the WHO (2009) and the World Development Indicator Database constructed by the World Bank (2008).

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Acknowledgment

The author would like to thank the WHO and the UN Population Division for providing detailed mortality data for this chapter, Pfizer and University of Cambridge for providing partial support to this research and Mie Inoue, Yohannes Kinfu, François Pelletier, and Jiaying Zhao for their help and support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Australian Demographic and Social Research Institute, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia

    Zhongwei Zhao

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  1. Zhongwei Zhao
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Correspondence to Zhongwei Zhao .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Sociology, University of Colorado, Boulder, Boulder, 80309-0327, Colorado, USA

    Richard G. Rogers

  2. Davis School of Gerontology, Andrus Gerontology Center, University of Southern California, McClintock Ave. 3715, Los Angeles, 90089-0191, California, USA

    Eileen M. Crimmins

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Zhao, Z. (2011). Adult Mortality in Asia. In: Rogers, R., Crimmins, E. (eds) International Handbook of Adult Mortality. International Handbooks of Population, vol 2. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9996-9_6

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