EC series Working Papers
WP-EC 2007-04
¿Cuántos somos? Una excursión por las estadísticas demográficas del Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE)
Francisco José Goerlich Gisbert
Abstract
This paper draws attention to the internal consistency of the demographic statistics frequently used in applied work, population stocks and flows of births, deaths and net migration. We illustrate some inconsistencies found in these statistics provided by the Spanish central statistical office, INE (Instituto Nacional de Estadística). This puts a spot of scepticism in our demographic statistics. Population statistics are vital for any country. If we are not able to know "how many are we?", we cannot know "how much we produce". We try to be constructive, in the sense of trying to improve our statistical data bases, in fact this work has been possible thanks to the generosity of the INE, who offers freely to the general public a vast amount of statistical information through his web (http://www.ine.es).
Keywords: Population, census, demographic statistics.
JEL classification: J10