Mortality rates estimates in the context of high homicide levels and poor data quality on deaths: The case of the Pacific region in Colombia between 1993 and 2013

Abstract

This paper aims to estimate age-specific death rates in the Pacific region of Colombia between 1993 and 2013. Living standards of the population in the Pacific region of Colombia have historically been lower than the national average and this was exacerbated by an upsurge of an armed conflict in the region at the end of the 20th century. We used indirect demographic techniques to estimate age-specific death rates and life expectancy by sex. Our results indicate that age-specific death rates had their largest increase during the armed conflict (1998-2003) which led to a reduction in life expectancy among men, particularly at ages 15-35; while estimates in 2008-2013, a period of lower intensity in the armed conflict, suggests that death rates and life expectancy had important declines and increases, respectively.