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Time Series Population Data

UNFPA / US Census Bureau  / UN / World Bank/World Resources Institute

All of the sites listed in the Multi-Sector section provide some historical time series data. However there are a number of sites which specialize in population data.

Reports

UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, publishes an annual report on the State of World Population. This report is available on their website in HTML format, and in some cases as downloadable PDF files. The 2003 report (published 8 October 2003) is available at http://www.unfpa.org/swp/swpmain.htm . Previous reports starting with 1996 are available at from a link on the same page.

Data Bases

US Census Bureau --The US Census Bureau provides a wide range of materials including a downloadable database of demographic data including projections to 2050.  The main page giving access to the various systems is http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/idbnew.html . Among the selections available are 1) Summary Demographic Data which provides a printable report giving data on one country which you select , 2) Online Access which allows you to select one table of indicators (which may be downloaded as a .csv file) for one or more countries and for multiple years from 1950 to 2050, 3) Online Demographic Aggregation which allows you to select specific indicators for regions and countries for multiple years, the tables may be printed or downloaded, 4) Population Pyramids which draws population pyramids for the countries and years selected, 5) Countries Ranked by Total Population which allows you to find the largest countries from 1950 to 2050 and 6) Download IDB Program and Data to PC which gives instructions for downloading the data base and installing it to a PC (we have not tested this)

United Nations -- The Population Information Network at http://www.un.org/popin/data.html gives links to a number of population data sources. Possibly the most interesting is World Population Prospects, the first set of links,  which gives access to a download in .pdf format of a number of population tables as well as links to a data base ( http://esa.un.org/unpp/ ) with three searchable sites (panel 1, panel2 and country profile) which prepare reports for downloading in CSV formats --  searches can go back to 1950 and the site also provides population projections. (for more on projections click here ).  The UN Statistics Division has three printable tables with the most recent data for all countries on Indicators on Population, Indicators on Youth and Elderly Populations, and Indicators on Human Settlements. For quarterly updated data the UN has the Population and Vital Statistics Report published quarterly but also available online. The Report is available only through a paid subscription.

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World Bank -- The Bank in its Health, Nutrition and Population site provides access to data on the three areas.  The most useful page from the population point of view is a data base which permits the user to select from among about 100 indicators for one or more countries with a time series beginning in 1970. The database which can be accessed at http://devdata.worldbank.org/hnpstats/AAGselection.asp can be downloaded as a CSV file. The site also provides links to the Excel spreadsheet viewer software for users who don't have access to Excel.  Other data on population is available for the latest year of data in the World Development Indicators (WDI) at http://www.worldbank.org/data/databytopic/databytopic.html .

World Resources Institute -- The WRI provides online data in EarthTrends: The Environmental Information Portal". WRI provides a searchable time-series database with coverage of more than 500 indicators for 220 countries. Topics include Water Resources and Freshwater Ecosystems; Climate and Atmosphere; Population, Health and Human Well-being; Economics, Business and the Environment; Energy and Resources; Biodiversity and Protected Areas; Agriculture and Food; and Forests and Drylands.  The searchable database permits searching for a single indicator but over a full range of countries and years. The result can be downloaded into csv format. The system also provides data tables and country profiles in pdf format, maps and feature stories. The database is available at http://earthtrends.wri.org/ . The data is also available in a CDROM for $US 125 . Information on the CDROM is available at http://www.wristore.com/woredacd20.html