Laboratory
Demographic Data
At a Glance
Projects
Publications
Team
Project
Human Fertility Database
Conducted by Dmitri A. Jdanov; Aiva Jasilioniene, László Németh, Karolin Kubisch; in Collaboration with Tomáš Sobotka, Kryštof Zeman, Maria Winkler-Dworak (all: Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna Institute of Demography, Austria)
Detailed Description
Data on fertility in industrialized countries are often fragmented and not easily comparable across countries, time periods, and cohorts. This particularly applies to parity-specific fertility indicators, which are crucial for understanding shifting fertility behavior and making informed policy decisions related to ongoing changes in fertility patterns and the future prospects for childbearing. Data limitations are becoming more salient over time as more attention is being paid to the issues surrounding low fertility in industrialized countries by policymakers, the media, and the wider public. Such issues can be properly addressed only if high-quality data on both period and cohort fertility become available for these countries.
The Human Fertility Database (HFD), officially launched in September 2009, is a joint project of the MPIDR and the Vienna Institute of Demography. It fills the gaps in the availability and comparability of fertility data, and it provides free and user-friendly access to detailed, high-quality data on period and cohort fertility for the international research community and other interested users. The major HFD outputs include period and cohort data on non-order-specific and (when available) order-specific births; unconditional and conditional fertility rates; fertility tables; and selected aggregate indicators, such as total fertility rates, mean ages at childbearing, and parity progression ratios.
The existing HFD data series are continually updated, and data for new countries are added. Collected data are thoroughly checked and documented. The HFD is based on vital statistics and applies a standardized and transparent methodology. However, the database is by design limited to populations with complete birth registration. Following the example of the Human Mortality Database, the HFD’s guiding principles are comparability, flexibility, accessibility, and reproducibility. The HFD fully adheres to the concept of open data.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the HFD team established a new data resource: the Short-Term Fertility Fluctuations (STFF) data series. The series complements the HFD by providing the latest data on fertility variation within a calendar year. The STFF series includes two types of indicators: crude monthly counts of live births and monthly and annual TFRs, and seasonally and calendar-adjusted monthly birth counts and monthly TFRs. The data are based on official data sources. All aspects of data collection, data processing, and methodology are described in the STFF Methodological Note.
The HFD has become an important and valued provider of detailed, high-quality, population-level fertility data for developed countries. Currently, the HFD has been cited in more than 900 scientific publications (for a non-exhaustive list of publications, please see www.humanfertility.org/File/GetDocumentFree/Docs/publications.pdf).
Data and Surveys, Demographic Change, Family Behavior, Fertility Development
Publications
Jasilioniene, A.; Jasilionis, D.; Jdanov, D. A.; Myrskylä, M.:
BMJ Public Health 3:1, 1–8. (2025)
Nisén, J.; Klüsener, S.; Dahlberg, J.; Dommermuth, L.; Jasilioniene, A.; Kreyenfeld, M.; Lappegård, T.; Li, P.; Martikainen, P.; Neels, K.; Riederer, B.; te Riele, S.; Sulak, H.; Szabó, L.; Trimarchi, A.; Viciana, F.; Myrskylä, M.:
Population, Space and Place 31:6, e70074–e70074. (2025)
Jasilioniene, A.; Jasilionis, D.; Jdanov, D. A.; Myrskylä, M.:
MPIDR Working Paper WP-2024-006. (2024)
Sobotka, T.; Zeman, K.; Jasilioniene, A.; Winkler-Dworak, M.; Brzozowska, Z.; Alustiza Galarza, A.; Németh, L.; Jdanov, D. A.:
Population and Development Review 50:S1, 23–58. (2024)
Sobotka, T.; Jasilioniene, A.; Alustiza Galarza, A.; Zeman, K.; Németh, L.; Jdanov, D. A.:
SocArXiv papers. unpublished. (2021)
Čipin, I.; Grigoriev, O.; Jasilioniene, A.:
Rostock, Vienna. (2018)
Gorlischev, V. P.; Grigoriev, P.; Michalski, A. I.:
MPIDR Technical Report TR-2018-001. (2018)
Grigoriev, P.; Michalski, A. I.; Gorlischev, V. P.; Jdanov, D. A.; Shkolnikov, V. M.:
MPIDR Working Paper WP-2018-001. (2018)
Klüsener, S.; Jasilioniene, A.:
Rostock; Vienna. (2018)
Michalski, A. I.; Grigoriev, P.; Gorlischev, V. P.:
MPIDR Technical Report TR-2018-002. (2018)
Mikhalskii, A. I.; Gorlischev, V. P.; Jdanov, D. A.; Grigoriev, P.:
In: Proceedings of the 11th IEEE International Conference "Application of Information and Communication Technologies" (AICT-2017), 420–424. Moscow: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. (2017)
Houle, R.; Kubisch, K.:
Rostock; Vienna. (2016)
Jasilioniene, A.; Sobotka, T.; Jdanov, D. A.; Zeman, K.; Kostova, D.; Andreev, E. M.; Grigoriev, P.; Shkolnikov, V. M.:
International Journal of Epidemiology 45:4, 1077–1078e. (2016)
Jasilioniene, A.; Stankūnienė, V.; Jasilionis, D.:
Rostock; Vienna. (2016)
Kingkade, W. W.; Jasilioniene, A.; Jdanov, D. A.:
Rostock; Vienna. (2016)
Kostova, D.; Grigoriev, P.:
Rostock; Vienna. (2016)
Kreyenfeld, M. R.; Pötzsch, O.; Kubisch, K.:
MPIDR Technical Report TR-2013-002. (2013)
Shkolnikov, V. M.; Jdanov, D. A.:
MPIDR Technical Report TR-2012-001. (2012)
Jdanov, D. A.; Nash, E. J.:
MPIDR Technical Report TR-2011-003. (2011)
Nash, E. J.; Jasilioniene, A.; Andreev, E. M.; Zeman, K.:
MPIDR Technical Report TR-2011-001. (2011)
Goldstein, J. R.; Sobotka, T.; Jasilioniene, A.:
Demografische Forschung Aus Erster Hand 7:1, 1–2. (2010)
Nash, E. J.; Jasilioniene, A.; Andreev, E. M.:
MPIDR Technical Report TR-2010-007. (2010)
Jasilioniene, A.; Jdanov, D. A.; Sobotka, T.; Andreev, E. M.; Zeman, K.; Shkolnikov, V. M.; Goldstein, J. R.; Philipov, D.; Rodrígues, G.:
Rostock. (2009)