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Data for 1979

Sex Ratio at Birth, 1979

1979, as UN DESA Population Division’s 2024 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

The sex ratio at birth is the number of boys born for every 100 girls. Left to nature it sits at about 105 everywhere, so a figure well above that is the usual sign that some parents are choosing the sex of their children, most often through sex-selective abortion.

Sex Ratio at Birth, 1979 covers 222 countries. Northern Mariana Islands is highest, at 109.0; Zambia is lowest, at 100.7. The middle country reads 105.0. Against 1978, 101 values changed (56 up, 45 down), the same countries are covered.

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Sex Ratio at Birth · Data for 1979

HighestNorthern Mariana Islands

109.0

LowestZambia

100.7

Shaded by value in five groups of equal size, darkest at the highest end.

01Values only

The table

Every country and every column of Sex Ratio at Birth, 1979, as published. The file carries values only, so no position is shown. “=” marks a shared position.

Showing 25 of 222 countries · select a heading to sort

Sex Ratio at Birth, 1979: every country, as published by UN DESA Population Division.
Northern Mariana IslandsMNPMicronesia109.0
TongaTONPolynesia108.1
PhilippinesPHLSouth-eastern Asia108.0
AlbaniaALBSouthern Europe107.8
GibraltarGIBSouthern Europe107.8
PalauPLWMicronesia107.7
SamoaWSMPolynesia107.7
SingaporeSGPSouth-eastern Asia107.7
Papua New GuineaPNGMelanesia107.6
UzbekistanUZBCentral Asia107.5
GreeceGRCSouthern Europe107.4
North MacedoniaMKDSouthern Europe107.4
CyprusCYPWestern Asia107.2
KiribatiKIRMicronesia107.2
NauruNRUMicronesia107.2
MacauMACEastern Asia107.1
MaltaMLTSouthern Europe107.1
NiueNIUPolynesia107.1
SpainESPSouthern Europe107.1
Timor-LesteTLSSouth-eastern Asia107.1
ChinaCHNEastern Asia107.0
KosovoXKXSouthern Europe107.0
Marshall IslandsMHLMicronesia107.0
MicronesiaFSMMicronesia107.0
PortugalPRTSouthern Europe107.0

02In 1979

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

  1. Northern Mariana Islands109.0
  2. Tonga108.1
  3. Philippines108.0
  4. Albaniashared107.8
  5. Gibraltarshared107.8

Lowest

  1. Zambia100.7
  2. Namibia100.9
  3. Malawi101.3
  4. Kenya101.7
  5. Liechtenstein101.8

Neither end is better. The values describe a shape, not a score. The middle country reads 105.0. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

031978 → 1979

Since 1978

What changed between 1978 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

  • +0 / −0countries joined / left
  • 101values changed, of 222 in both
  • 56 · 45rose · fell
  • 121unchanged

Rose most

Fell most

Both years come from the same release, so a difference here is a change in the data, not a revision of it. Every country’s full history is charted on the statistic page.

04Caveats

Read before you use

What this edition’s numbers are and are not, worked out from the file itself.

How values are stored

  • One year of the 2024 release

    Every year in this series comes from UN DESA Population Division’s 2024 release, recalculated on one method. It can differ from what was first published for 1979.

  • 62 distinct values among 222

    Values are stored exactly as published, to 1 decimal. 10 countries share 107.0. Countries sharing a value share a position too.

  • Nothing missing

    Every one of the 222 countries has every column.

05The files

Download and cite

The table as a file, digit for digit, what this site changed, and a citation for this edition.

Licence in full

What this site changed: Reshaped into one row per country: regional and income-group totals are left out, only the columns listed are kept, each row gets its ISO 3166 code, and some country names are brought to one spelling. No value is recalculated, rescaled or rounded.

Licence: CC BY 3.0 IGO · what it allows, in plain words

Cite this edition

UN DESA Population Division (1979). Sex Ratio at Birth, 1979 [data set], describing 1979. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/sex-ratio-at-birth/1979

0674 held

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