Below is a list of selected on-line data bases, EXCEL tables and pdf-documents for the study of global demographic structures and trends.

Recently added data links:

Refugees, asylum seekers, internally displaced persons (Added 10 October 2014)

Probabilistic Population Projections
United Nations Population Division.

These are the 2nd Revision of Probabilistic Population Projections for all countries of the world prepared by the Population Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA). While the 1st Revision, published in early 2012, was based only on probabilistic projections of total fertility, this 2nd Revision also includes probabilistic projections of life expectancy at birth for all countries that do not have a high prevalence of HIV/AIDS infections. The probabilistic projections are based on the historical estimates of population by age and sex, fertility and mortality between 1950 and 2010 from the 2010 Revision of the World Population Prospects.

Methodology

Software

Input: Fertility Change Model

Input: Fertility Projection

Input: Life Expectancy at Birth - Females

Input: Life Expectancy at Birth - Males

Results: Total Population by country

Results: Population Age 0-14 by country

Results: Population Age 15-64 by country

Results: Population Age 65+ by country

World Population Prospects: The 2012 Revision
United Nations Population Division

The 2012 Revision of the World Population Prospects is the twenty-Third round of global demographic estimates and projections undertaken by the Population Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat. The world population prospects are used widely throughout the United Nations (UNFPA, UNDP, WHO, FAO, UNICEF, UNESCO, etc.) and by many international organizations (The World Bank, IMF, etc.), research centers, academic researchers and the media.
This is the original set of demographic estimates and projections for all countries of the world, which is used for numerous derived indexes and analytic reports and papers by various UN agencies and research centers.

Methodology

Volume I

Volume II

Tables in EXCEL-Format: Population

Tables in EXCEL-Format: Fertility

Tables in EXCEL-Format: Mortality (Life Expectancy)

Tables in EXCEL-Format: Migration

Tables in EXCEL-Format: Annually interpolated data

Tables in EXCEL-Format: Special aggregates

Demographic Country Profiles

Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS)
USAID

The Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) Program has collected, analyzed, and disseminated accurate and representative data on population, health, HIV, and nutrition through more than 300 surveys in over 90 countries:

Datsets

World Population & Census Programme
United Nations Statistics Division

List of all population and housing censuses worldwide.

Demographic Yearbook
United Nations Statistics Division

The Demographic Yearbook includes demographic data as reported by UN member countries. For demographically consistent population estimates and projections see: United Nations, Population Division: World Population Prospects and World Urbanization Prospects.

World Population Datasheet
Population Reference Bureau

The World Population Data Sheet offers detailed information on 20 population, health, and environment indicators for more than 200 countries. Data include: wealth and income disparity, HIV/AIDS prevalence, percent of population with access to improved sanitation, and more. The demographic data are mostly taken from the estimates of the United Nations World Population Prospects.

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Simple Online Data Archive for Population Studies
PennState University, USA

The Simple Online Data Archive for Population Studies is the Population Research Institute's data archive. Datasets are arranged in collections by title. Within each collection, users may view descriptive information including links to abstracts and originating agencies or investigators; search the content of each collection for relevant variables; search across collections for variables; view accompanying electronic documentation; and finally, extract for download a personally tailored analysis-ready subset of a data collection in a format of their choosing - SAS, Stata, or SPSS dataset and comma or tab delimited format.

Data Collections

INDEPTH Network
42 member network of Demographic Surveillance Systems

INDEPTH is a pioneer in health and population research, providing answers to some of the most important questions in development. Through its global network of health and demographic surveillance system (HDSS) field sites in Africa, Asia and Oceania, it is capable of producing reliable longitudinal data not only about the lives of people in low- and middle-income countries, but about the impact on those lives of development policies and programmes:

INDEPTH Data Depository

Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS)
UNICEF

UNICEF assists countries in collecting and analyzing data in order to fill data gaps for monitoring the situation of children and women through its international household survey initiative the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS). Since the mid-1990s, the MICS has enabled many countries to produce statistically sound and internationally comparable estimates of a range of indicators in the areas of health, education, child protection and HIV/AIDS. Results from MICS, including national reports and micro level datasets, are widely disseminated after completion of the surveys and can be downloaded at this website. 

Data Files

Human Fertility Database
V. Shkolnikov, T. Sobotka, D. Jdanov, A. Jasilioniene, D. Kostova, P. Grigoriev, K. Kubisch, S. Gellers-Barkmann

The Human Fertility Database (HFD) is a joint project of the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR) in Rostock, Germany and the Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) in Vienna, Austria, based at MPIDR. The database provides free access to detailed, well-documented and high-quality data on period and cohort fertility and thus to facilitate research on changes and inter-country differences in fertility in the past and in the modern era. The HFD is entirely based on officially registered birth counts by calendar year, mother's age (and/or cohort) and (whenever possible) biological birth order. 

Data Files

Human Mortality Database
J.R. Wilmoth, V. Shkolnikov, M Barbieri)

The Human Mortality Database (HMD) was created to provide detailed mortality and population data to researchers, students, journalists, policy analysts, and others interested in the history of human longevity. The project began as an outgrowth of earlier projects in the Department of Demography at the University of California, Berkeley, USA, and at the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in Rostock, Germany. It is the work of two teams of researchers in the USA and Germany, with the help of financial backers and scientific collaborators from around the world.

Data Files

Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS)
Minnesota Population Center, National Statistical Offices

IPUMS-International is an effort to inventory, preserve, harmonize, and disseminate census micro-data from around the world. The project has collected the world's largest archive of publicly available census samples. The data are coded and documented consistently across countries and over time to facilitate comparative research. IPUMS-International makes these data available to qualified researchers free of charge.

Data Files

Advertisement: Smart books from Amazon.com

Massimo Livi-Bacci (2012) A Concise History of World Population.  Wiley-Blackwell, 5th Edition.

Ronald Lee, Andrew Mason (2013): Population Aging and the Generational Economy: A Global Perspective. Edward Elgar Pub.

Peter S. Heller (2003)
Who Will Pay? Coping With Aging Societies, Climate Change, and Other Long-Term Fiscal Challenges. International Monetary Fund (IMF)

World Bank (2014)
World Development Report 2014: Risk and Opportunity - Managing Risk for Development.
World Bank Publications

William Easterly (2014)
The Tyranny of Experts: Economists, Dictators, and the Forgotten Rights of the Poor.
Basic Books

In Association with Amazon.com

Refugees, Asylum Seekers, Internally Displaced Persons
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees - UNHCR

The database currently contains data about UNHCR's populations of concern from the year 2000 up to 2013 and you can use it to investigate different aspects of these populations: their general composition by location of residence or origin, their status (refugees, asylum seekers, internally displaced persons, etc.), their evolution over time.

United States Demography
Social Explorer, Free Edition

Population data (census) from 1790 to 2012 in maps and tables for the United States of America