Chuuk State Census Report - pacificweb.org

2000 FSM Census of Chuuk StateChapter 2. Age and Sex StructureConclusionThe age and sex composition of Chuuk changed over the three decades before the census. These shifts in the agesexstructure have important implications for future planning.The annual growth rate of Chuuk for the period 1994 to 2000 was 0.1 percent, declining from 2.2 percent for theprevious period, 1989 to 1994. This decline is attributed mostly to a decline in fertility and increasing emigration.The sex ratio declined to about 103 in 2000, a reflection of the tendency for males to migrate and die younger thanfemales. The trend of the sex ratio varied among the regions mainly because of different migration patterns.The Chuuk population slowly aged over the three decades. The Chuuk’s median age in 2000 was at about 19years, two years older than the 1994 Census and about four years older than the 1973 Census. This increase in themedian age certainly came from the combination of declining fertility (females having fewer children), lowmortality (people dying at an older age than before), and selective migration (immigration of working agepersons). The median age also increased in the regions (Table 2.5).The dependency ratio decreased from about 101 in 1973 to about 81 in 2000. This decrease stemmed fromdeclining fertility and age-selective immigration.Chuuk Branch Statistics Office, Division of Statistics, FSM Department of Economic Affairs 25