We introduce a new demographic metric: vigor. Vigor is defined to be the ratio of a population's life expectancy to its median age. Data is available from the CIA Factbook. The highest value is 4.31 for the Gaza Strip; the lowest value is 1.68 for Monaco. The colors on the world map are chosen so that red represents the lowest level of demographic vigor, and green represents the highest level of demographic vigor. Notable values include:
1.79 - Russia
1.80 - Japan
1.87 - European Union
2.05 - China
2.10 - United States of America
2.30 - world average
2.31 - Brazil
2.42 - Indonesia
2.47 - India
2.75 - Bangladesh
2.86 - Pakistan
3.04 - Nigeria
Median age alone does not convey the concept of demographic vigor. A country may have a low median age and high fertility, but this boost to population growth may be cancelled out by low life expectancy. The new ratio introduced here is increased by having more children who then survive longer.
1.79 - Russia
1.80 - Japan
1.87 - European Union
2.05 - China
2.10 - United States of America
2.30 - world average
2.31 - Brazil
2.42 - Indonesia
2.47 - India
2.75 - Bangladesh
2.86 - Pakistan
3.04 - Nigeria
Median age alone does not convey the concept of demographic vigor. A country may have a low median age and high fertility, but this boost to population growth may be cancelled out by low life expectancy. The new ratio introduced here is increased by having more children who then survive longer.
RSS Feed