3. Concepts and Definitions

Activity rate The rates of labour force to the corresponding total population are expressed in percentages. This is also referred to as the labour force participation rate.

Contraceptive prevalence rate The percentage of married women of child-bearing age who are using, or whose husband are using, any form of contraception, whether modern or traditional.

Fertility rate The average number of children that would be born alive to women during her lifetime, if she were to bear children at each age in accord with prevailing age-specific fertility rates.

First level of education Education at the first level (level 1 of the International Standard Classification of Education—ISCED), the main function of which is to provide the basic elements of education, such as elementary schools.

Gross enrolment ratio The gross enrolment ratio is the number of students enrolled in a level of education – whether or not they belong in the relevant age group for that level – as a percentage of the population in the relevant age group for that level.

Illiteracy rate The percentage of population aged 15 years and above who cannot, with understanding, both read and write a short, simple statement on their everyday life.

Income group The income group is used by the World Bank to determine eligibility for International Development Association (IDA) assistance. Only countries with population of more than 30,000 are included. Economies are divided among income groups according to 1997 GDP per capita. The group are: low income, $785 or less; middle income, $785-$9,655; and high income, $9,655 or more.

Infant mortality rate The annual number of deaths of infants under one year of age per 1,000 live births. More specifically, the probability of dying between birth and exactly one year of age times 1,000.

Labour force The labour force (is also called economically active population) has been adjusted by the International Labour Office to conform to a standard concept of labour force which is defined to comprise all employed and unemployed persons (including those seeking work for the first time), with the minimum age limit taken as 10 years. It covers employers, own-account workers, employees, unpaid workers assisting in the operation of a family farm or business, members of producers’ cooperatives and members of armed forces.

Least developed countries The United Nations system for classifying countries by development status is complex and subject to the judgement of the Committee on Development Planning (CDP). At present the criteria do not attach significant weight to vulnerability, although one indicator of economic vulnerability is used, namely the Economic Diversification Index (EDI). The designation of a country as “least developed” is based on the following benchmarks: i) average per capita GDP of $699; ii) an augmented physical quality of life index (APQLI) of 47; iii) an economic diversification index (EDI) of 26; and iv) population of 75 million. A country would qualify into the list of Least Developed Countries if it meets the above criteria, but subject to the judgement of the CDP on its natural resource endowments. Alternatively, a country qualifies if it meets the population and per capita income criterion, and the APQLI or the EDI and is landlocked with a population of 1 million or less and, as judged by the CDP, suffers from frequent and severe climatic risks.

Life expectancy at birth The number of years a newborn infant would live if prevailing patterns of mortality at the time of birth were to stay the same throughout the child’s life.

Maternal mortality rate The annual number of deaths of women from pregnancy-related causes per 100,000 live births.

Marital status The marital status is defined as the personal status of the individual in relation to the marriage laws or customs of that country. The marital status classification used is the following: single (never married), married, widowed (but not remarried) and divorced (but not remarried).

Refugee The United Nations Commissioner for Refugees’ founding mandate defines refugees as those who are outside their countries and who cannot or do not want to return because of a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of their race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group.

Second level of education Education at the second level (levels 2 and 3 of the International Standard Classification of Education—ISCED), based on at least four years of previous instruction at the first level and providing general or specialized instruction or both, such as middle school, secondary school, high school, teacher training school at this level and vocational or technical school.

Singulate mean age at marriage The singulate mean age at marriage, the average age which men and women marry, is an estimate of the average number of years lived prior to first marriage by a hypothetical cohort, if they marry before age 50.

Third level of education Education at the third level (levels 5, 6 and 7), such as universities, teacher colleges and higher professional school—requiring as a minimum condition for admission the successful completion of education at the second level or evidence of the attainment of an equivalent level of knowledge.

Tobacco use The World Health Organization estimates prevalence of tobacco use which includes consumption of bidis and rolled tobacco.

Total population The total population usually refers to the present-in-area (de facto) population which includes all persons physically present within the present geographic boundaries of countries at the mid-point of the reference period.

Unemployment All persons above a specific age who are not in paid employment or self-employed, but are available and have taken specific steps to seek paid employment or self-employment.