Islamabad: According to the latest demographic figures, life expectancy – the length of time that people are expected to live – edged lower from 65.4 years to 65 years in a few years.
Pakistan Demographic Survey (PDS) is a regular activity of the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), conducted over periods to provide accurate data on demographic indicators.
The PDS 2020 is the twentieth round of a series of surveys initiated in 1984. After 1984, nineteen rounds of PDS were completed till 2007. The current round of PDS was completed after a gap of 13 years.
Pakistan Demographic Survey 2020, released on Tuesday, also calculated the infant mortality rate, total and general fertility rates, crude birth and death rates, and the rate of natural increase, apart from life expectancy.
Pakistan_Demographic_Survey-2020Chief Statistician Dr Naeemuz Zafar said, in the latest survey, that most of its results showed proximity when compared with relevant indicators of the Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey (PDHS) 2017-18 and the Pakistan Standard of Living Standards Measurement Survey (PSLM) 2018-19.
The general fertility rate was 124. Correlating it with the age-specific data shows the rate was highest in the 25-29 age group at 215, while in the 20-24 age group at 176, followed by 164 in the 30-34 age group, and 94 in the 35-39 age group. The general fertility rate was lower in urban areas (102) than in rural areas (138).
Although the overall life expectancy lowered, it showed a slight increase among men going up from 64.3 to 64.5. However, it showed a drop from 66.5 to 65.5 for women.
“Life expectancy also increased for the age group of 1-4 to 71.3, including 70.6 for males and 72 for females,” the report said.
It also showed a fall in infant mortality rate to 56 deaths per 1000 live births which was 60 in Pakistan Social and Living Standard Measurement Survey (PSLM) 2018-2019 and 62 in Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey (PDHS) 2017-2018. Among all the diseases, cardiovascular diseases cause 14.74% of deaths.
