awesome-demographic-methods
Awesome Demographic Methods 
An awesome curated list of resources for Demographic Methods. Inspired by Awesome Computational Social Science and others.
The order of entries within categories is either alphabetically or chronologically. Please add your resources according to the respective ordering
Contents
- Books
- Education
- Selected Papers With Reproducibility Packages
- Software
- Data and Materials
- Miscellaneous
- Relevant Awesome Lists
- Contributing
Books
Entries are ordered chronologically.
- Methods and Materials of Demography, by Shryock, H. S., & Siegel, J. S. (1980)
- Demography: Measuring and Modeling Population Processes, by Preston, S., Heuveline, P., & Guillot, M. (2000)
- Population Estimation Bibliography & Glossary, by Swanson, D. (2009)
- Demographic Methods for the Statistical Office, by Hartmann, M. (2009)
- Essential Demographic Methods, by Wachter, K. W. (2014)
- A checklist for reviewing draft population projections, by Wilson, T. (2017)
- United Nations Demographic Manuals, by United Nations (2017)
Online Books
Entries are ordered chronologically.
- Tools for Demographic Estimation by International Union for the Scientific Study of Population (IUSSP) (2012)
- Introduction to Small Area Estimation Techniques: A Practical Guide for National Statistics Offices by Asian Development Bank (2020)
- Analyzing US Census Data: Methods, Maps, and Models in R by Walker, K. (2022)
- Research Methods in Demography at the University of Washington by Hanowell, B. (2022)
- The Epidemiologist R Handbook by The Epidemiologist R Handbook (2024)
- Applied Demographic Data Analysis by Sparks C. S. (2026)
Education
Learning material/courses tailored for Demographic Methods.
Online Courses and Material
See also the Software section for material on software tools. Ordered alphabetically.
- Demographic Methods Course Materials by Germán Rodríguez (2022)
- Ernesto Amaral’s 2025 course
- LSHTM course on Introduction to Demographic Methods and Population Analysis
- Monica Alexander’s 2025-2026 course University of Toronto, Canada
- University of California (UC) Berkeley’s formal demography workshop
Videos and Lectures
Workshops
University Course Programs
Bachelor, Master, PhD programs (alphabetically by country using ISO 3166-1 alpha 3 codes).
Bachelor programs
- BA Social and Population Sciences, University of Rostock, DEU
Master programs
- MA Sociology and Demography, University of Rostock, DEU
PhD programs
- The International Max Planck Research School for Population, Health and Data Science (IMPRS-PHDS), Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, DEU
- European Doctoral School of Demography
Selected Papers With Reproducibility Packages
Papers should accompany a great reproducibility package to serve as examples. Ordered chronologically.
- Analyzing the young adult mortality hump in R with MortHump by Remund, A., Camarda, C. G., & Riffe, T. (2018)
- Forecast accuracy hardly improves with method complexity when completing cohort fertility by Bohk-Ewald, C., Li, P., & Myrskylä, M. (2018)
- Reproducible materials for “APC Curvature Plots: Displaying Nonlinear Age-Period-Cohort Patterns on Lexis Plots.” by Acosta, E. (2019)
- IRS County-to-County Migration Data, 1990 to 2010, Replication Code by Hauer, M., & Byars, J. (2019)
- e0_social_disparities_nfhs: Code for Life Expectancy Disparity Analysis with the Indian NFHS by Gupta, A., & Sudharsanan, N. (2022)
- World Mortality Dataset by Karlinsky, A., & Kobak, D. (2025)
Software
Focus on publicly available tools, packages and software for demographic methods, preferably or only open source material. Ordered alphabetically (from second item onwards).
Excel
Ordered alphabetically.
- Age Preference Measures (Whipple’s and Myers’ Indexes) by Agorastakis, M., & Michou, Z. (2012)
- American Community Survey Calculator by Oklahoma Department of Commerce (2011)
- American Community Survey Statistical Testing Tool by US Census Bureau (2016)
- API2Excel: Retrieve data from the Census Bureau API in Excel by Vink, J., & Reynolds, L. (2025)
- Calculating Migration Expectancy Using ACS Data by US Census Bureau (2012)
- Direct and Indirect Standardization by Agorastakis, M., & Michou, Z. (2012)
- Implied Total Fertility Rate Calculator by Hauer, M., Baker, J., & Brown, W. (2014)
- MAPE-R Calculation Spreadsheet by Bryan, T. (2011)
- Median Age Calculation Spreadsheet by Wilson, T. (2011)
- Median Calculation Spreadsheet by Doig, S., Hoyer, B., & Hoyer, M. (2011)
- Model Migration Schedule Fitting Example by Wilson, T. (2020)
- PAS: Population Analysis System by US Census Bureau (2011)
- Percentile (Median) Calculation Spreadsheet by Dunstan, K. (2011)
- Population Pyramids and Age Measures by Agorastakis, M., & Michou, Z. (2012)
- PRB Population Pyramid Spreadsheets by Population Reference Bureau (2011)
- Recode In Excel by Agorastakis, M., & Michou, Z. (2012)
- Subnational Projections Toolkit (SPToolkit) by US Census Bureau (2017)
- XlXtrFun: Extra Functions for Microsoft Excel by XlXtrFun (2011)
Julia
Ordered alphabetically.
- HMD.jl: Human Mortality Database Access in Julia by Moehrke, P. (2024)
Python
- Awesome Python (other lists: 1, 2, 3) for general resources in Python
- Brass Relational Gompertz Fertility Model Code by Hunsinger, E. (2011)
- Brass Relational Logit Mortality Model Code by Hunsinger, E. (2011)
- Cacrespo/pylexis by Crespo, C. A. (2024)
- ipumspy by ipums (2021)
- Period Life Table Code by Stanford Formal Demography Workshop (2011)
- PyCCM: cohort component based projections
- Solving Actuarial Math with Python by Terence Lim
R
- Awesome R for general resources in R
- Alysonvanraalte/LifeIneq by Raalte, A. van. (2025)
- Basic Population Projection Code by Hunsinger, E. (2011)
- Bayesian Probabilistic Projection of International Migration by Azose, J. J., & Raftery, A. E. (2015)
- bayesPop: Probabilistic Population Projections by Ševčíková, H., & Raftery, A. E. (2016)
- biogrowth: Modelling of Population Growth by Garre, A., Koomen, J., Besten, H. den, & Zwietering, M. (2025)
- Brass Relational Gompertz Fertility Model Code by Hunsinger, E. (2011)
- Brass Relational Logit Mortality Model Code by Hunsinger, E. (2011)
- Christiandudel/dtms [R] by Dudel, C. (2026)
- County Characteristics Graphing Code by Howell, D. (2014)
- DemoDecomp: Decompose Demographic Functions by Riffe, T. (2024)
- demogR: Analysis of Age-Structured Demographic Models by Jones, J. H., & Oeppen, J. (2018)
- demography: Forecasting Mortality, Fertility, Migration and Population Data by Hyndman, R., Booth, H., Tickle, L., Maindonald, J., Wood, S., & R Core Team. (2025)
- DemoKin: Estimate Population Kin Distribution by Williams, I., Alburez-Gutierrez, D., Song, X., & Hal, C. (2023)
- DemoTools by Riffe, T. (2025)
- Employment-Based Population and Housing Projection Code by Hunsinger, E. (2014)
- Get USA Mortality Data by Clark, S. (2019)
- Hamilton-Perry Projection with Components and Stable Population Information Code by Hunsinger, E. (2020)
- HMD2R: Human Mortality Database Data Grabber by Boe, C. (2012)
- HMDHFDplus: Read Human Mortality Database and Human Fertility Database Data from the Web by Riffe, T., Boe, C., Hilton, J., Goldstein, J., Holzman, S., & Yoo, S. H. (2025)
- ipumsr: An R Interface for Downloading, Reading, and Handling IPUMS Data by Ellis, G. F., Burk, D., Roberts, F., Grover, J., Ehrlich, D., Rodgers, R., & Innovation, I. for S. R. and D. (2026)
- Iterative Proportional Fitting R Code by Tomlinson, N., & Hunsinger, E. (2011)
- Kannisto Extrapolation of Mortality Rates to Oldest Ages (Kannisto.R) by Schmertmann, C. (2022)
- LexisPlotR: Plot Lexis Diagrams for Demographic Purposes by Ottolinger, P., & Smilde-Becker, M. (2020)
- Median Age Calculation Code by Hunsinger, E. (2011)
- migest: Tools for Estimating, Measuring and Working with Migration Data by Abel, G. J. (2025)
- Migration Indices by Daróczi, G. (2014)
- Model Migration Schedule Fitting R Code by Hunsinger, E. (2018)
- Modeling and Mapping of Brazil’s Fertility Transition by Potter, J., Schmertmann, C., Assunção, R., Cavenaghi, S., & Jakobi, G. (2010)
- MortCast: Estimation and Projection of Age-Specific Mortality Rates by Ševčíková, H., Li, N., & Gerland, P. (2021)
- Period Life Table Code by Stanford Formal Demography Workshop (2011)
- popdemo: Demographic Modelling Using Projection Matrices by Stott, I., Hodgson, D., Townley, S., & Ellner, S. (2026)
- Population Pyramid Code (three variables) by Cristancho, C. (2020)
- Quadratic Spline Interpolation of Fertility Schedules by Schmertmann, C. (2011)
- Ratio-Correlation Population Estimates Code by Hunsinger, E. (2011)
- rcbayes: Estimate Rogers-Castro Migration Age Schedules with Bayesian Models by Yeung, J., Alexander, M., & Riffe, T. (2022)
- Rcompadre: Utilities for using the “COM(P)ADRE” Matrix Model Database by Barks, P., Buss, D., Salguero-Gomez, R., Stott, I., Petry, W. K., James, T., … Levin, S. (2026)
- rsocsim: SOCSIM by Theile T., Alburez-Gutierrez, D., Snyder, M., & Calderón-Bernal, L. P. (2026)
- Schmertmann’s Calibrated Spline Fertility Estimation by Schmertmann, C. (2013)
- Stochastic Population Forecast Code by Hunsinger, E. (2011)
- tidycensus: Load US Census Boundary and Attribute Data as “tidyverse” and ’sf’-Ready Data Frames by Walker, K., Herman, M., & Eberwein, K. (2026)
- TwoTimeScales: Analysis of Event Data with Two Time Scales by Carollo, A., Eilers, P. H. C., & Gampe, J. (2026)
- UndercountMigScores by Maciej J. Dańko (2024)
- ungroup: Penalized Composite Link Model for Efficient Estimation of Smooth Distributions from Coarsely Binned Data by Pascariu, M. D., Rizzi, S., Schoeley, J., & Danko, M. J. (2024)
- vital: Tidy Analysis Tools for Mortality, Fertility, Migration and Population Data by Hyndman, R., Tang, S., McBain, M., & O’Hara-Wild, M. (2025)
- wcde: Download Data from the Wittgenstein Centre Human Capital Data Explorer by Abel, G. J., K.C, S., Potancokova, M., Reiter, C., Tamburini, A., & Yildiz, D. (2024)
SAS
Ordered alphabetically.
- Constraining Arrays SAS Code by Coleman, C. (2016)
- Iterative Proportional Fitting Macro by Sprague, W. (2011)
- Life Table Smoothing Macro by Hulíková, K. (2012)
- MAPE-R Calculation Code by Coleman, C. (2011)
Standalone
Ordered alphabetically.
- BAZI: Calculation of Allocations by Apportionment Methods by Pukelsheim, F. (University of Augsburg) (2012)
- Census and Survey Processing System (CSPro) by US Census Bureau (2010)
- Demographic Analysis & Population Projection System (DAPPS) Software by US Census Bureau (2017)
- MORTPAK: United Nations Software Package for Mortality Measurement by United Nations (2017)
- Rural Urban Projection (RUP) Software by US Census Bureau (2010)
- Spectrum: Policy Models (including “DemProj”) by Avenir Health (2011)
Stata
Ordered alphabetically.
- mslt: Multistate Life Tables Using Stata by Muniz, J. O. (2020)
Web
Ordered alphabetically.
- ACS Calculator (Cornell PAD) by Vink, J. (2011)
- Census Geocoder by US Census Bureau (2017)
- County Characteristics Explorer by Vink, J. (2016)
- Mapper (Cornell PAD) by Vink, J. (2011)
- Next Year Population Possibilities Reviewer by Hunsinger, E. (2017)
Data and Materials
Ordered alphabetically.
- Address Count Listing Files by US Census Bureau (2025)
- Alaska PFD-Based Migration Data by Sandberg, E., & Howell, D. (2017)
- Building Permits Survey Database by US Census Bureau (2011)
- Canadian Human Mortality Database by Human Mortality Database Project (2019)
- Census SF1-ACS Master Index Files by Texas A&M Transportation Institute (2013)
- Census Surname Data by US Census Bureau (2025)
- Cohort Change Ratio Files by Baker, J., Swanson, D., Tayman, J., & Tedrow, L. (2017)
- data.census.gov: US Census Data Access by US Census Bureau (2020)
- Decennial Census of Population and Housing Questionnaires & Instructions by US Census Bureau (2012)
- Early California Population Project by The Huntington (2017)
- Generations & Gender Programme
- Global Population Mapping and Spatial Analysis Products by US Census Bureau (2023)
- Historical Census Publications by US Census Bureau (2012)
- HUD Zip Code Crosswalk Files by US Department of Housing and Urban Development (2018)
- Human Fertility Database by Human Fertility Database Project (2011)
- Human Life-Table Database by Human Mortality Database Project (2022)
- Human Migration Database (HMigD)
- Human Mortality Database by Human Mortality Database Project (2011)
- IPUMS NHGIS: National Historical Geographic Information System by IPUMS (2013)
- IPUMS by IPUMS (2011)
- IRS Migration Data by IRS Tax Statistics (2013)
- Latin American Human Mortality Database by Urdinola, B., & Queiroz, B. L. (2022)
- Lives, Choices and Futures - Demographic Futures Survey United Nations Population Fund
- Migration data portal
- Net Migration by Decade, 1950-2020
- Population and Housing Unit Estimates (PEP) by US Census Bureau (2022)
- QuantMig
- Scholarly Migration Database
- Short-term Mortality Fluctuations
- The Association of Religion Data Archives by Association of Religion Data Archives (2013)
- The DHS Program Quality information to plan, monitor and improve population, health, and nutrition programs
- The global flow of people by Sander N., Abel G. J. and Bauer R. (2014)
- TIGER: Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing by US Census Bureau (2017)
- United States Mortality Database by Human Mortality Database Project (2019)
- US Census Bureau Datasets (www2) by US Census Bureau (2011)
- US Census Bureau’s American Community Survey Questionnaire Archive by US Census Bureau (2012)
- WONDER Databases (CDC WONDER) by CDC (2011)
- World Population Prospects by United Nations (2021)
- WorldPop: Open Spatial Demographic Data and Research by WorldPop (2025)
Miscellaneous
Resources that do not fit into other categories.
- Applied Demography Toolbox and here
- BayesPop; materials by group at the University of Washington
- Taxonomy of migration research
GitHub Organizations
- Applied Demography Toolbox (AppliedDemogToolbox)
- Center for Studies in Demography and Ecology
- DEBIAS
- Eurostat
- Formal Demography Working Group
- Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation
- Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science
- Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research
- Open Science Demography
- Probabilistic Projections Group
- UC Berkeley Demography
- US Census Bureau
- World Bank
- WorldPop
Relevant Awesome Lists
Ordered alphabetically.
- Awesome Causality
- Awesome Community Detection
- Awesome Computational Social Science
- Awesome Data Science
- Awesome Data Science with Python (another)
- Awesome Data Visualization
- Awesome Deep Learning
- Awesome Digital Humanities
- Awesome Jupyter
- Awesome Machine Learning
- Awesome MySQL
- Awesome Network Analysis
- Awesome NLP (another one)
- Awesome Notebooks
- Awesome Open Science
- Awesome Python (other lists: 1, 2, 3)
- Awesome Quarto
- Awesome R
- Awesome Research Software Registries
- Awesome Scholarly Data Analysis
Contributing
Contributions welcome! Read the contribution guidelines first.