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Concepts and definitions

Age

In connection with vital events, age data refer to the age on the day the event took place. Average age is obtained by adding up the ages of all persons involved in the same event at the time of the event, after which the sum is divided by the number of these persons. As the used age of a person is given in full years at the time of the event, it is not the exact age of that person. For this reason, it is assumed when computing average age that the persons were aged x+0.5, on average, at the time of the event.

Age-specific fertility rate

The age-specific fertility rate indicates the number of live births per 1,000 women of the mean population in the age group in question.

Birth order

The birth order is determined in two ways: either all births to the mother are taken into account, or only the live births during the present marriage are included.

Births

'Liveborn' is the term for a newborn who breathes or shows other signs of life after birth.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) definition, 'stillborn' is the term for a newborn with a birth weight of at least 500 g or, if the birth weight is not available, a newborn born dead after a pregnancy lasting 22 weeks or more. The WHO definition has been in use since 1987. From the 2003 vital statistics onwards, the same national definition is used as in the cause-of-death statistics: 'stillborn' is the term for a newborn with a birth weight of at least 500 g, or a newborn born dead after a pregnancy lasting 22 weeks or more.

Before 1987 stillborn was the term for a newborn born dead after a pregnancy lasting 28 weeks or more.

Children are classified in birth statistics by the mother's marital status at the time of the child's birth. A child born during marriage is a legitimate child. A widow can give birth to a legitimate child if the pregnancy began while she was still married. A child born out of wedlock is illegitimate. Cases where the mother has married the child's father after the child's birth are also considered illegitimate in these statistics. According to the law, such children only become legitimate as of the date when their parents enter into a marriage contract with each other.

Crude birth rate

The crude birth rate refers to the number of births per 1,000 persons of the mean population.

Crude fertility rate

The general fertility rate indicates the number of liveborn children per 1,000 women of the mean population aged 15 to 49.

Excess of births

The excess of births, that is, the natural population increase, refers to the

difference between livebirths and deaths.

Gross reproduction rate

The reproduction of the population refers to a change of a generation into a new one. Reproduction is measured by gross reproduction rates or net reproduction rates that generally indicate the ratio between the sizes of the daughter's and mother's generations. The fertility and mortality of the mother's generation before the end of the childbearing age is taken into account in the calculation of the net reproduction rate. In the gross reproduction rate this mortality is not taken into consideration. If the net reproduction rate calculated per one woman is less than one, the daughter's generation is smaller than the mother's generation and the mother's generation has not reproduced itself.

Increase of population

Increase of population is the sum of excess of births over deaths and net immigration.

Language

Information on language is obtained from the Population Information System. At the same time as parents register the name of their new-born, they also indicate the child's mother tongue. That language is retained in the Population Information System unless it is changed upon separate application.

Languages are classified by the Population Register Centre according to the ISO 639 standard. The future language classification ISO-639-1 was already adopted for the 2000 population census.

Liveborn

Liveborn is the term for a newborn who breaths or shows other signs of life after birth. Only liveborn children of women living permanently in Finland are taken into account in the population statistics.

Mean population

The notion of mean population (or average population) refers to the average of the populations of two consecutive years. When a ratio describing some phenomenon is calculated for the statistical year, the number of events in the phenomenon in question is usually expressed as a proportion of the mean population of the people or the groups subject to the event. The figures relating to population events are generally given as per 1,000, that is, the result of the division is multiplied by one thousand.

Net reproduction rate

The reproduction of the population refers to a change of a generation into a new one. Reproduction is measured by gross reproduction rates or net reproduction rates that generally indicate the ratio between the sizes of the daughter's and mother's generations. The fertility and mortality of the mother's generation before the end of the childbearing age is taken into account in the calculation of the net reproduction rate. In the gross reproduction rate this mortality is not taken into consideration. If the net reproduction rate calculated per one woman is less than one, the daughter's generation is smaller than the mother's generation and the mother's generation has not reproduced itself.

Proportion of stillbirths

The proportion of stillbirths refers to the number of stillborn children per 1,000 liveborn and stillborn children.

Reproduction of the population

The reproduction of the population refers to a change of a generation into a new one. Reproduction is measured by gross reproduction rates or net reproduction rates that generally indicate the ratio between the sizes of the daughter's and mother's generations. The fertility and mortality of the mother's generation before the end of the childbearing age is taken into account in the calculation of the net reproduction rate. In the gross reproduction rate this mortality is not taken into consideration. If the net reproduction rate calculated per one woman is less than one, the daughter's generation is smaller than the mother's generation and the mother's generation has not reproduced itself.

Sex

The information about sex has been obtained from the Population Information System.

Stillborn

From 2003 vital statistics onwards, the same national definition is used as in the cause-of-death statistics: 'stillborn' is the term for a newborn with a birth weight of at least 500 g, or a newborn born dead after a pregnancy lasting 22 weeks or more.

Total fertility

The total fertility rate is obtained by adding together fertility rates calculated for one year. This figure refers to the estimated number of children the woman gives birth to, provided that the fertility rate of that year prevails during the whole reproductive period of that woman on condition that she will not die before the end of the said period.