Evaluation of Age-Sex Data Collected in the 1991, 2001 and 2011 Population and Housing Censuses of Namibia

Immanuel Shipanga, University of Namibia
Tobias Shinyemba, University of Namibia

This paper examined the accuracy of age-sex data reported in the Namibia population censuses with the aim to establish patterns and trends in the quality of age-sex reporting. The study followed a cross-sectional study design using the 1991, 2001 and 2011 population censuses data from Namibia Statistics Agency. We computed Whipple?s and Myers?s Blended indexes to measure age heaping. The age-sex ratio and UN joint score were used to ascertain the possibility of population undercounts and displacement between age groups. The analysis of single-age distribution showed a minimal digit preference across all three censuses. Likewise, Myers blended index portrayed that terminal digits 0, 1, 2, 5, 8 and 9 were preferred the most in all censuses. The Whipple?s Index showed a two-point decline suggesting an improvement in age reporting. The UN joint score found that the data collected in all three censuses were inaccurate in terms of age-sex displacement.