Techniques of life table construction: A review

Abstract

A life table is one of the most influential discoveries in demography which is primarily used to express the pattern of human mortality. Among the various uses, it plays an imperative role for analysis of mortality, population projection, life expectancy design and to determine the key factors responsible for the highest mortality within the population. Public health employees, demographers, actuaries and many others use life tables for innumerable purposes. A life table can be constructed for a country or an area on the basis of various demographic characteristics including sex, occupation, race and so on. It can be classified according to reference year of the table, age detail and a number of factors comprehended by the table. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to introduce life table including its various types and construction procedures in the understanding ways.