Friday 6 August 2010

Zambia in numbers

I was in one library in Lusaka some months ago and I happened to see there Zambia Demographic and Health Survey from 2007. Later, to my great surprise, I found the full book from the internet. I was totally fascinated by all this interesting data of Zambia. In case you don't share my enthusiasm and prefer not to read the 500 pages of statistics, I have copied here some interesting bits.

Population pyramid


Number of usual members in the household
UrbanRural Total
1 6,8 8,2 7,7
2 11,1 9,7 10,2
3 13,6 14 13,9
4 14,9 15,6 15,4
5 15,3 16,2 15,9
6 12 13,7 13,1
7 9,2 9,1 9,1
8 6,4 6 6,2
9+ 10,7 7,4 8,5


Total fertility rate
UrbanRural Total
4,37,56,2


Total fertility rate by level of education


Median age for women to give birth for the first time: 19

Married men: Number of wives
UrbanRural Total
197,189,691,9
2+2,910,48,1



Electricity
UrbanRural Total
Yes52,13,3 20,7
No47,996,7 79,3


Rooms used for sleeping
UrbanRural Total
One22,345,337,1
Two38,737,337,8
Three or more3816,624,2


Place for cooking
UrbanRural Total
In the house 64,4 6,9 27,4
Has separate kitchen 45,4 5,4 19,6
No separate kitchen 17,3 1,4 7
In a separate building 5,7 48 32,9
Outdoors 29,6 44 38,9



Cooking fuel
UrbanRural Total
Electricity41,21,8 15,8
Charcoal50,71024,5
Wood7,588,159,4


Household effects
UrbanRural Total
Radio7554,761,9
Television63,98,828,4
Mobile telephone67,91231,9
Refrigerator 38,6 1,915
Bed 92,3 57,1 69,6
VCR/DVD 34,42,113,6



Means of transport
UrbanRural Total
Bicycle31,5 54,1 46
Car/truck 7,9 0,83,3
Animal drawn cart0,8 74,8


Ownership of bank/savings account
UrbanRural Total
35,6 4,9 15,8


All that data reminds me how privileged I am even with my sort of lower middle-class life here in Lusaka. I have heard some not-very-positive comments on the Central Statistical Office, so maybe all the results are not 100 % reliable, but close enough for simple illustrations like this.

Besides these, the survey includes loads of other interesting data. For instance, 45 % of children are stunted because of malnourishment. Only 11,7 % of adult women had drank milk the previous day, and 5,1% had had cheese or yoghurt. 32,9 % of women and 14,1 % of men find that the husband is justified in hitting or beating his wife when wife burns the food.

The book also describes actions taken to fight malaria. During 2007, 3,5 million insecticide treated nets were distributed. That explains perhaps also why I was expected to be giving away nets, as I mentioned here. (64 % of households have at least one net.)

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