Traditional sources for vital statistics are the Civil Registration System (birth and death registration system) and population census. The Civil Registration System in Pakistan, as in several other developing countries appears to be highly deficient and inadequate to provide reliable birth and death statistics.
In the absence of efficient civil registration system and inability of decennial censuses to provide birth and death statistics, during the intercensal periods, several demographic surveys have been undertaken by the Federal Bureau of Statistics in the country since, early sixties either independently or in collaboration with other organizations. The latest series of demographic surveys, known as Pakistan Demographic Survey (PDS) was launched in 1984. This report pertains to the data collected through PDS during 2001.
 

Objectives

• to collect statistics of births and deaths in order to arrive at various measures of fertility and mortality for Pakistan and its four provinces separately for rural and urban areas;
   
• to estimate current rate of natural increase of population at national and provincial level.
   
• to collect information on other selected characteristics of population.
  to asses the impact of family planning and other Socio-Economic development programme.

In the PDS 2001, the coverage of the population was on dejure basis i.e. all persons who usually live in the sample areas, whether present or temporarily absent at the time of enumeration ( night prior to the date of enumeration ) were included in the survey. On the other hand, any person who was present in the sample areas (night prior to the date of enumeration) but whose usual residence was out of the sample areas, was not enumerated in the survey. Students who were studying in any other village/town but living in the hostels or boarding houses were enumerated with their parent's household. However, if any such student was living with his relatives, friends or in a private house, then he was enumerated at the place where he was being studied. Population of institutions, such as patients admitted in the hospitals, inmates of prison houses were not covered. Instead, they were enumerated with their usual households, provided their period of absence was not more than six months.