Laboratory

Demographic Data

At a Glance Projects Publications Team

Research Area

Fertility Dynamics

The Laboratory of Demographic Data has been actively engaged in developing online databases for population-level fertility data since 2007. Its work involves the implementation of data processing procedures and the development of important methodological solutions to problems stemming from the varying quality and structure of the original data.

The Laboratory currently maintains two fertility databases: the Human Fertility Database (HFD) and the Human Fertility Collection (HFC). The HFD provides a range of detailed and reliable cohort and period fertility indicators for developed countries that are produced from high-quality raw data on birth counts and population exposures after rigorous checks. The HFC, which is designed to supplement the HFD, publishes ready-to-use fertility rates collected from a variety of external sources (such as statistical offices, research institutes, and individual researchers) with no or very minimal adjustments, and aims to provide global coverage.

In March 2021, the HFD team established a new data resource in response to the COVID-19 pandemic: the Short-Term Fertility Fluctuations (STFF) data series. The STFF series is part of the HFD project and complements it by providing up-to-date data on monthly births and total fertility rates for selected countries.

In addition to maintaining the fertility databases, the Laboratory’s activities in this research area include conducting studies investigating how various crises influence fertility and childbearing behavior in developed countries. Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, fertility research in the Laboratory centered on the short-term fertility fluctuations caused by the pandemic and the consequences of the pandemic for long-term fertility trends.

Projects of this Research Area