IDB Interactive Tool Help Page

Background/Context

Welcome to the International Database (IDB)!

This user guide will explain how to use the interactive data tool for accessing and querying population data. For more background information about the IDB, including methodology, definitions, and release notes, please visit the IDB overview page .

The IDB interactive data tool has six tabs (Dashboard, Tables, Map, Population by Age, Trends, and Customization) with the Dashboard tab selected by default, initially displaying population data for the World. Each tab has the following general layout:
  1. Selection/Filtering menu
  2. Header section displays the name of a selected country/area as heading text. Header section has three buttons:
    1. The Show/Hide menu button allows users to toggle the visibility of the Selection/Filtering menu. When the menu is hidden, the main display area increases to full width.
    2. Click Help button to display IDB help page.
    3. Submit feedback button allows users to submit feedback.
  3. Main display area: displays the views when users make selection(s) from the Selection/Filtering menu.


Dashboard

On this tab, users can quickly view demographic facts and visuals about the world, individual regions, or individual countries/areas. For some countries, users can see data at subnational administrative levels. For additional data and features, navigate to other pages by selecting the Tables, Map, Population by Age, or Trends tabs.

The world is initially selected in this tab.

Selection/Filtering Menu
  1. Show/Hide Menu
    The Show/Hide menu button allows users to toggle the visibility of the menu. When the menu is hidden, the main display area increases to full width.
  2. Select Country/Area "Select Country/Area" allows users to select a country, area, or region. Clicking on this button will open a dialog window, which prompts users to make a selection.
    1. To select a country, area, or region, click it in the list, and then click "OK" at the bottom of the dialog. Only one selection can be viewed at a time on the Dashboard.
    2. Most of the selectable regions are grouped by their classification (e.g. "UN Development Groups", "International Pacts and Agreements"). To view these, first expand the classification group, then select the region. User created regions from the Customization tab will appear in the "Custom Regions" group
    3. Users can filter the region and country/area list by typing the name or part of the name in the text box.
    4. Users can also quickly filter the list so that it only shows countries/areas with subnational data by checking the checkbox under "Has Subnational Data".
  3. Select Year Clicking the year button opens a pop-up window prompting users to select a year.
    1. Users can click on "Year" to sort the list, or use filter to narrow the list by:
    2. Entering year in the input field, or
    3. Clicking on the filter icon, and entering a year into "Filter..." field.
    4. Years with no data available are grayed out (not selectable).
    5. Click "OK" button to display the views—of the selected year—to the main display area.
  4. Clear Selections The "Clear Selections" button clears all of the filters and selections, returning the application to the default view of the World.
  5. Show
    The "Show" section has three radio buttons, which allow the user to switch views for a Country/Area or Region: National/Regional, Subnational and Sources. Please note that the Subnational view is not available for all countries. Note also that Sources are unavailable for regions. Sources for subnational boundaries and estimates are available at the subnational data webpage.
  6. View Country/Area on Tabs
    This section allows the user to quickly view the selected Region or Country/Area on some of the other tabs and sections of the IDB Application.
    1. "Map": jump to Map tab, showing the map of the selected Region or Country/Area and year.
    2. "Population Pyramids": jump to Population by Age tab, showing the population pyramid of the selected Region or Country/Area and year.
    3. "Age Tables": jump to Population by Age tab, showing the population table of the selected Region or Country/Area and year.
  7. Notes Contains brief details about how the data were generated. It also includes links to download all data and subnational IDB data, as well as a link to the Census API.

Dashboard Display Area
National/Regional
The main section of the Dashboard will display various cards, depending on whether a Region or a Country/Area is selected. these cards can include Quick Facts, a Map, a Population Pyramid, and several different trend graphs.
  1. Quick Facts This section displays available Quick Facts for the selected Region or Country/Area, and the selected year. It will display different facts, depending on whether a Region or Country/Area is being viewed.
  2. Population Pyramid Animation Users can change the year parameters for the population pyramid by clicking the "Select Years" button beneath the pyramid visualization.
    1. "Starting year": enter starting year.
    2. "Ending year": enter ending year.
    3. "Increment by": the animation will play and show the pyramid for every "Increment by" year(s). For example, if the "Increment by" is 5, the pyramid will display the population for every five years.
    4. Click "OK" button to complete animation settings.
    5. Click the button to start the animation. Click the to pause the animation.
  3. Charts Various graphs will display on the dashboard, showing population data for the selected Country/Area or Region. Selecting a Country/Area will typically display more charts/graphs.
    1. Each chart has a download button that opens a small pop-up window prompting users to select a download format (PDF, JPEG, or CSV).
    2. Hover over a point/line of the chart to see the info window that displays the data of that point/line.
  4. Map A world map is displayed to show and highlight any selected regions. Users can also select a Country by clicking on the target Country's region. The map will zoom to and highlight the selected Country, and other widgets will update based on the selection.

Subnational

For countries/areas where subnational data are available, the dashboard will contain both a map and a table of subnational data. Subnational data currently available are population, sex ratio and dependency ratios. Users can utilize the links above the table to download data and view the subnational webpage for more information.

Above the map the user may select the admin level and measure. Note: only the available admin levels and measures are shown.

Either the map or the table can be expanded, allowing for additional space to view the data and map.

A user may select a subnational area on the map to see its corresponding data in the table. Similarly, a user can select a subnational area in the table and view it on the map.


  1. Map The map shows the selected country, divided into subnational areas at the current Administration level. Users can click on a subnational area to select it and display a pop-up detailing statistics for that area. Selections made in the map will also be selected in the Subnational data table.
    1. Use the Admin Level drop down to select the administration level to display on the map. The number of levels will vary depending on the data available for the selected country.
    2. Use the Measures drop down to select the what measures to display in the map.


  1. Data Table The data table lists the country and its subregions, along with their corresponding aggregate data. Users can re-arrange columns by dragging the column header into the desired location. Users can also alter the size of columns by dragging the header edges to the preferred size. Right clicking on a cell will provide a menu to collapse/expand rows, as well as copy data for a cell.
    1. The first column organizes the regions into a hierarchy tree, with the country as the topmost option. Expanding the row for a region will reveal the child sub-regions one administration level below.
    2. Clicking on a row will highlight that row, as well as select the corresponding area on the map. The administration level on the map will also update to match the level selected in the data table.

  1. Downloads Users can utilize the links above the table to:
    1. Download the entire dataset for the selected country/area
    2. Download the entire set of subnational data (for all available countries/areas)
    3. Navigate to the subnational data webpage to see more information


  1. Map/Table Width Slider Users can drag the slider to adjust the width proportions of the Map and Data Table. Sliding left will expand the Data Table, and sliding right will expand the Map.

Sources
Sources section is available for every country/area, but not for regions. Sources for subnational boundaries and estimates are available at the subnational data webpage.


Tables

In this tab, users can display tables of demographic data for multiple regions and countries/areas for a single year or multiple years. Several pre-built reports are available, or users can generate custom reports.

Initially, this tab is displayed as follows:
  1. The report "Demographic Overview" is selected.
  2. The measures that correspond to "Demographic Overview" (Total Population, Growth Rate, Population Density, etc. in this screenshot).
  3. "Filter by Country/Area" displays the selected regions and countries/areas (Arab League and Germany in this screenshot) in the "Name" column of the data table.
  4. "Filter by Year" displays only the selected year(s) (2024 in this screenshot) in the table.

Selection/Filtering Menu
  1. Show/Hide Menu
    The Show/Hide menu button allows users to toggle the visibility of the menu. When the menu is hidden, the main display area increases to full width.
  2. Report Selection
    Click "Report" button to open a popup window prompting users to "Select a Report".
    Note:
    • Demographic Overview, Components of Population Growth, Fertility, Mortality, and Migration are pre-built reports. These reports have a fixed number of pre-selected measures/table columns.
    • "Custom Report" is not a pre-built report. It allows users to select any number of measures to be displayed in the table.
    1. Select a report
    2. Click "OK" button to generate the data table for selected report.
  3. Custom Report Columns
    Click "Custom Report Columns" button to open a popup window prompting users to "Select a Measure".
    1. Select measure(s)
      Note
      • Some measure(s) were pre-selected for those pre-built reports.
      • If users unselect any of the pre-selected measure(s) (or select additional measures), the report button will change to "Custom Report".
    2. Click "OK" button to generate the data table for selected measure(s).
  4. Filter by Country/Area Click "Filter by Country/Area" button to open a pop-up window prompting users to "Select Countries/Areas".
    1. Select regions and/or countries/areas
    2. Users can select all countries/areas (or clear all the selections), or use filter at the top to filter the list.
    3. Click "OK" button to generate the data table for the selected regions and countries/areas.
  5. Show Countries/Areas in Regions This checkbox will toggle whether or not the table will display the countries/areas that combine to make a region, or whether to hide them and display regions the same way countries/areas are displayed.
    1. Checked: Regions are expandable to show the countries/areas that make up the region.
    2. Unchecked: Regions are not expandable, and are displayed as single entities.
  6. Filter by Year The "Select by Year" are as follows:
    1. "Use specified year(s)": is checked by default. If this checkbox is checked, it displays the table row(s) of the selected year(s) from "Years (comma separated)" input field.
    2. "Use specified range": If this checkbox is checked, it allows users to select a range of years. Users can manually enter a starting year in the input field, or adjust the slider to select a starting year. Users can manually enter an ending year in the input field, or adjust the slider to select an ending year.
    3. "Increment by__ year" input field allows users to display table row(s) for every "Increment by__ year" year(s) within the range.
    4. Click "OK" button to display the above selections in the table.
  7. Clear Selections The "Clear Selections" button resets the app to its initial default settings.
Table
  • Click on download button to open a pop-up window prompting users to “Choose a Download Format” of either CSV or Excel.

  • Users can hover their mouse over the the column headers in any table to view data definitions. This can be helpful when the user is unfamiliar with the definitions of the dataset.


  • You can change the order of columns by dragging the column header left or right. You can resize columns by dragging the separator to the right of the column header. Double-clicking that separator automatically resizes the column to fit its widest contents (usually the column header text).

  • Click on a column header to sort a column in ascending or descending order.

  • Filter
    1. Users can directly enter filter condition into filter input box as follows:
      • > (Greater than)
        for example: > 100000.
      • < (Less than)
        for example: < 100000.
      • - (In range)
        for example: 100000-200000.
    2. Or click on the filter icon:
      1. Click on filter icon to open the filter dropdown.
      2. Click on the arrow-down button to choose “In range”, “Greater than”, “Less than” etc.


Map

On this page, users can view global maps of demographic indicators for specific years. Users can select regions and/or countries/areas to zoom to their location. For some measures and some countries, users can see data at subnational administrative levels.

Selection Menu
  1. Show/Hide Menu The Show/Hide menu button allows a user to toggle the visibility of the menu. When the menu is hidden, the main map display area increases to full width.
  2. Measure Click on the "Measure" button to open a pop-up window to select a measure. When the "OK" button is clicked, the tool creates the map based on the newly selected data measure.
    1. Select a measure

      Note that users can filter by measure type or whether the measure includes subnational estimates, as well as by measure name.

    2. Click "OK" button to display the map (of the selected measure) in the map display area.
  3. Select by Country/Area Click the "Country/Area" button to open a pop-up window to "Select Countries/Areas."
    1. Select a region, country/area, or multiple Countries/Areas.
    2. Users can filter by Region or country/area name.
    3. Click "OK" button to highlight and zoom to the selected countries/areas.
  4. Year Click the "Year" button to open a pop-up window prompting user to select a year.

    Note that the starting year data availability will differ between countries.

    1. Users can click on “Year” to sort the list.
    2. Additionally, users can filter by entering year in the input field.
    3. Click “OK” button to display map for selected year.
  5. Admin Level Click the "Admin Level" button to change how the map handles data at subnational administrative levels.
    1. National Only shows only the country/area level data, even if the measure supports subnational estimates. For measures that have no subnational data, "National" is the only available option
    2. Dynamic shows lower admin levels as you zoom in.
    3. Admin "locks in" the designated administrative level for countries with estimates at that level. "Admin Level" is a generic term for subnational units. For example, if there were subnational estimates for the United States (there are not), "Admin 1" would be states and "Admin 2" would be counties or equivalent. Countries that do not have estimates for the administrative level will show it's national level data instead.
  6. Clear Selections The "Clear Selections" button clears all selections and resets the map to its default settings.

Map Display Area and Functionality
Users can view maps for different measures, which may vary in color scheme. Diverging color schemes are applied to data measures with a midpoint, otherwise a sequential orange color scheme is applied.

  1. Zoom In/Out Icons - cause the current display scale to increase/decrease by a single increment on the center of the current map display extent.
  2. Navigate Home Icon - zooms the map display to the default extent of the global view. If the current map display scale and extent is already at the default global view, then there is no perceptible system response.
  3. Legend - located at the bottom left corner of the map display area, the legend displays the range of values signified by each color on the map. To show or hide the legend, users can click the icon at the bottom left corner of the map (beside the legend box, when it is open).

  4. When the user clicks a geography in the map, an info window will pop up displaying data for the underlying area or areas, including Country/Area name, data year, and data estimate for the selected measure.
    1. If there are subnational layers, there will be multiple pages to the popup, accessible via the arrows at the top of the info window. Note that if the user has selected a specific Administration Level, only that subnational layer (if available) and the national layer will be accessible.
    2. As you change from page to page, the corresponding area will be highlighted on the map.
    3. You can also dock the info window to the top right corner of the map, or zoom to the currently displayed area.
  5. The user may double-click on a geography to select it.
  6. Some countries/areas may appear to have no labels. Labels are usually prevented from displaying if they do not fit inside the underlying area, with the exception being more populous countries/areas at the map’s default view while zoomed out.

Population By Age

In this tab, users can view the population datatable or pyramid for a single country/area or multiple countries/areas, and for a single year or multiple years.

Selection Menu
  1. Show/Hide Menu The Show/Hide menu button allows users to toggle the visibility of the menu. When the menu is hidden, the main display area increases to full width.
  2. Show Users can select either "Population Pyramids" to see graphical representation of the data, or "Age Tables" to see tabular representation.
  3. Select by Countries/Areas "Select by Country/Area" allows users to select a region or country/area. Click on this button to open a pop-up window prompting users to make a selection.
    1. Users can click on "Area Name" to sort the list.
    2. Users can also enter a few letters of the country/area name or region in the input field to filter the list.
    3. Click "OK" button to display the views of the selected region or country/area.
  4. Show Countries/Areas in Regions Checking this box will display all the countries/areas that make up a region, while unchecking will show regions as single entities.
  5. Select Year(s) Allow users to select one or more years to be displayed in the table. Click this button to filter on one or multiple years.
  6. Clear Selections The "Clear Selections" button resets the app to its initial default settings.

Population Pyramids

Note that if more countries/areas and/or years are selected, it will take more time to load the pyramids.

  1. Click on "Population Pyramids" button to display the pyramid(s).
  2. Select countries/areas to display. By default, regions will display an aggregate chart along with charts for all member countries. To show only the region aggregate pyramid, uncheck the option "Show Countries/Areas in Regions".
  3. Select years for each population pyramid. If individual countries are selected, multiple pyrmaids will be grouped and boxed together for each country. If a region is selected, multiple pyrmaids for each country and the aggregate will be adjacent to eachother.

Tables
Display table of selected countries, selected years, and selected age groups.
  1. Click on "Tables" button to display the datatable.
  2. Table rows are grouped by country/area and year. Click on "Expand All"/"Collapse All" buttons to expand/collapse all rows, or
  3. Users can click on a country/area name or year to expand/collapse the rows of that particular country/area or year.
  4. Age Groups selections display a table for the selected group in the main display area:
    • [*] Custom Age Groups (created by the user in the Customization Tab)
    • Single Year Age Groups.
    • Five Year Age Groups.
    • Broad Age Groups.
    • Youth Age Groups.
    • Special Age Groups.
    • Older Age Groups.
    • Older Five Year Age Groups.


Customization

In this tab, users can create custom regions and custom age groups. The user-created region can be viewed on all tabs by selecting it from the country/area filters. The user-created age groups are viewable only on the Age Tables in the Population by Age tab.

Users are able to share their custom regions and age groups with others in two ways: copy and pasting the URL, and saving the custom regions and/or age groups to a file, which can then be shared with other users.

Viewing Regions and Age Groups

Users can also use the "Customization" page to view pre-built Regions and Age Groups, as well as any custom groups created or imported into the system.

  1. On the "Regions" view, users can click the "Select Region" drop down to select a reion and view the countries of that group.
    1. Users can filter the list by either a 2 character GEOCODE, or a country'region's name to see if area is present in the region.
  2. On the "Age Groups" view, users can click the "Select Age Groups" drop down to select an age group and view the age associated with it.

Creating Custom Regions
  • Clicking the "Create New Region" button starts the process of creating a custom region
  • Once this button has been pressed, there are more steps and options for the user:
    1. First, the user must enter a name for their custom region.
    2. The user may or may not add countries/areas from an already-existing region. This can be helpful if the region closely resemebles another region; this allows the user to take an existing region, and add or remove countries/areas to/from it.
    3. To add or remove countries/areas to/from the custom region, the user checks or unchecks the checkbox in the table. The table is filterable, like all the tables in the application.
    4. Selecting the "Show selected countries/areas only" checkbox will filter the list to currently selected countries/areas. Users can use this feature to review selections, and remove any items before completing their custom region.
    5. Lastly the user must click the "Create" button to finalize the new custom region. Once this is done, the region will be viewable across the appliction.
Creating Custom Age Groups
  • To create a custom age group, the user must first select "Age Groups" in the side bar.
  • Next, the user must click the "Create New Age Groups" button.
  • Once this button has been pressed, there are more steps and options for the user:
    1. First, the user must enter a name for their custom age groups.
    2. The user may or may not add age groups from an already-existing age grouping.
    3. To add age groups to the new custom grouping, the user enters them in the text box. Seperating each group with a comma, users can add individual years (i.e. 7, 17) and spans of years (i.e. 18-20, 20-30).
    4. Lastly the user must click the "Create" button to finalize. Once this is done, the age groups will be viewable in the Population by Age tables.
Saving and Loading Customizations
Saving/Exporting
  1. To save the current customizations to a file, the user must first select the "Export" button in the sidebar.
  2. Next, the user must name the export file.
  3. The user can then pick which customizations they wish to save using the checkboxes in the table.
  4. Lastly, the user must click "Export Selected Items". This will download the save file in the form of a JSON file, which can be shared and loaded by other users.
    • Note: Avoid making directly edits to the exported JSON file, as any alterations could easily invalidate the file. This could prevent the file from being properly imported back into the app.
Loading/Importing
  1. To load previously saved customizations, the user must first select the "Import" option in the sidebar.
  2. Next, the user can either drag and drop the JSON file from their computer into the import box, or they can click the "Select a File" button to manually select the file in a file explorer.
  1. Once the file is selected, a list will appear containing all of the available customizations. The user can check the boxes of which custom regions and/or custom age groups they want to import.
  2. Once the user has made their selections, clicking "Import Selected Items" will load them into the IDB Application, allowing them to be viewed.
Viewing Customizations in IDB
Custom Regions

To view a custom region in the application, the user must select the region like they would any other region. Custom regions will appear at the top of the "Filter by Country/Area" dialogs:


Custom Age Groups

To view a custom age group, the user must:

  1. First, navigate to the Population by Age tab.
  2. Next, select Age Tables in the sidebar.
  3. Lastly, select the new custom age group. The age groups will now be displayed in the table.