Fertility Rates as Development Indicators

Vital Statistics as Development Indicators 

The discussion on fertility rates as development indicators discussed in the previous BLOG is continued here. In the image below the fertility rates of Nepal and Germany are compared. These fertility rates are namely  Age specific fertility rate (ASFR) and Total fertility rate (TFR). This comparison shows that the development levels of two countries can be compared by comparing their fertility rates. In the previous blog a comparison between TFR was done to explain this concept . Here in the table (image)below ASFR and TFR are compared. ASFR is defined as the number of birth per 1000 women in that age group. For example, the ASFR for the age group 20-24 for Nepal in the year 2000-2005 and 1995-2000 is 231.2 and 257.4, implying that out of 1000 women in the age group 20-24, 231.2 gave birth in 2000-2005 and 257.4 gave birth in 1995 - 2000. This number has declined sharply from 1995 to 2005. Whereas in Germany this value is 53.4 and 58.5 respectively. In Germany the decline in not so drastic as compared to Nepal. ASFR attains its peak in Nepal in the age group 20-24. This implies that in Nepal most of the women bear children in the age group 20-24.The ASFR  data of Nepalbased on census 2011also exhibits this pattern. But in Germany ASFR is highest in the age group 25-29. As the country becomes more developed not only does the TFR decrease (Germany 1.3 , Nepal 3.7 in 2000-2005) but the age at which ASFR attains its peak  increases. The reason behind this is that as the development activity increases more and more women become economically active through various job opportunities coupled with such developments, this results in decrease in TFR. Many women shift their age when they bear their first child to later years (25-29 in Germany) resulting in highest ASFR in 25-29.

Comparison between Germany and India