Provisional Abridged Life Tables for Urban and Rural Areas in Pakistan, Based on PGS 1968 and 1971

As is the case in many other countries, mortality has been undergoing substantial, though not precisely understood, changes in Pakistan. In the absence of a reliable and adequate system of vital registration in the country, the precise measurement of these changes is well nigh impossible. In Pakistan, an attempt to estimate levels of fertility and mortality on a sample basis was made through the Population Growth Estimation (PGE) project undertaken from 1962 through 1965 [5, 12]. Subsequently, another demographic survey, called the Population Growth Survey (PGS), was initiated and carried out from 1968 through 1971 [13]. In the PGE a dual system of data collection was utilized based on continuous (Longitudinal) registration and a periodic (Cross-Sectional) survey. In the PGS, data were collected through periodic surveys only. Data from the PGS have only recently been made available to researchers. The present set of life tables is based on the mortality statistics collected in 1968 and 1971 field operations of the PGS.