Spatial distribution of centenaries in Brazil: an exploratory analysis on data quality of census data

Abstract

The last decades witnessed the rapid growth of the population of centenarians, people with 100 years or more, in some regions of the planet. The estimated number of centenarians in developed countries has doubled in every decade since 1950 (UN 2005). In Brazil, centenarians still make up a very small portion of the total population. In 2000, there were 24,576 centenarians in the country, or 1.44 centenarians per 10,000 people. In 2010, there was a reduction of centenarians in the Demographic Census, both in absolute numbers and in proportion, to 24,236 centenarians, or 1.27 centenarians per 10,000 people (IBGE 2000; 2010), which shows the existence of problems Demographic census data. Despite IBGE's commitment to improving census data over the last decades, there are still problems related to accuracy of information. Two basic types of errors can occur in population data census. The first refers to the population count associated with poor census coverage, whether by omission or duplicity of an individual. The second error due to failure to state the age, due to omission of information or misrepresentation. In the search for elements that point to possible errors in demographic censuses, this study presents an exploratory analysis of the spatial distribution of the centenarians in Brazil at the micro-region level in 2000 and 2010. This study aims to evaluate the spatial distribution of the population ratio with 100 years and more, and the population with 85 years and more in Brazil. We compare data between different parts of Brazil and countries recognized for good quality records. Our results provide data on the data quality of Demographic Censuses for people with 100 and more in Brazil for 2000 and 2010 and, to some extent, contribute to the understanding of the spatial distribution of centenarians in the country.