Population Characteristics (demography)

Population characteristics are measurable attributes of a human population, including age, sex, household structure, education, and employment. They describe how a population is composed and how its members live.

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Population: A group of people defined by shared location, identity, or another specified criterion. Population characteristics summarize the composition of this group.
Census: A systematic count of a population that collects information about its members. Censuses provide broad, often small-area measurements of population characteristics.
Population pyramid: A chart showing a population’s age and sex distribution, commonly with horizontal bars. It makes age and sex composition visible for planning and comparison.
Ageing population: A population in which older people form a growing share of the total. Age composition can signal changing demands for care, pensions, and services.
Gender identity: A person’s internal sense of their own gender. It is distinct from sex classifications and raises questions about how surveys record identity.
Age structure: The distribution of a population across age groups. It shows the population’s age composition and helps explain needs across the life course.
Demographic survey: A structured sample survey that gathers information about population and social conditions. Surveys measure characteristics that a census may not collect in detail.
Labor force: People who are employed or unemployed and actively seeking work. Employment characteristics help measure labor supply and participation.
Dependency ratio: A ratio comparing age-defined dependent groups with the working-age population. It translates age structure into a commonly used measure of potential economic support.
Race and ethnicity in censuses: The methods by which censuses define and collect information about racial and ethnic groups. Category design affects how population differences and changes are measured.