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Twinning across the Developing World

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  • Jeroen Smits
  • Christiaan Monden

Abstract

Background: Until now, little was known about the variation in incidence of twin births across developing countries, because national representative data was lacking. This study provides the first comprehensive overview of national twinning rates across the developing world on the basis of reliable survey data. Methods: Data on incidence of twinning was extracted from birth histories of women aged 15–49 interviewed in 150 Demographic and Health Surveys, held between 1987 and 2010 in 75 low and middle income countries. During the interview, information on all live births experienced by the women was recorded, including whether it was a singleton or multiple birth. Information was available for 2.47 million births experienced by 1.38 million women in a period of ten years before the interview. Twinning incidence was measured as the number of twin births per thousand births. Data for China were computed on the basis of published figures from the 1990 census. Both natural and age-standardized twinning rates are presented. Results/Conclusions: The very low natural twinning rates of 6–9 per thousand births previously observed in some East Asian countries turn out to be the dominant pattern in the whole South and South-East Asian region. Very high twinning rates of above 18 per thousand are not restricted to Nigeria (until now seen as the world's twinning champion) but found in most Central-African countries. Twinning rates in Latin America turn out to be as low as those in Asia. Changes over time are small and not in a specific direction. Significance: We provide the most complete and comparable overview of twinning rates across the developing world currently possible.

Suggested Citation

  • Jeroen Smits & Christiaan Monden, 2011. "Twinning across the Developing World," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(9), pages 1-5, September.
  • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0025239
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0025239
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    Cited by:

    1. Fenske, James & Wang, Shizhuo, 2023. "Tradition and mortality: Evidence from twin infanticide in Africa," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    2. de Jong, Eelke & Smits, Jeroen & Longwe, Abiba, 2017. "Estimating the Causal Effect of Fertility on Women’s Employment in Africa Using Twins," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 360-368.
    3. Roland Pongou & David Shapiro & Michel Tenikue, 2019. "Mortality convergence of twins and singletons in sub-Saharan Africa," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 41(36), pages 1047-1058.
    4. Ian J. Rickard & Colin Vullioud & François Rousset & Erik Postma & Samuli Helle & Virpi Lummaa & Ritva Kylli & Jenni E. Pettay & Eivin Røskaft & Gine R. Skjærvø & Charlotte Störmer & Eckart Voland & D, 2022. "Mothers with higher twinning propensity had lower fertility in pre-industrial Europe," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-12, December.
    5. Gilles Pison & Christiaan Monden & Jeroen Smits, 2014. "Is the twin-boom in developed countries coming to an end?," Working Papers 216, Institut National d'Études Démographiques (INED).
    6. Sahawal Alidou & Marijke Verpoorten, 2019. "Family size and schooling in sub-Saharan Africa: testing the quantity-quality trade-off," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 32(4), pages 1353-1399, October.
    7. Zhang, Junchao, 2017. "A dilemma of fertility and female labor supply: Identification using Taiwanese twins," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 47-63.
    8. Joshua P Vogel & Maria Regina Torloni & Armando Seuc & Ana Pilar Betrán & Mariana Widmer & João Paulo Souza & Mario Merialdi, 2013. "Maternal and Perinatal Outcomes of Twin Pregnancy in 23 Low- and Middle-Income Countries," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(8), pages 1-7, August.
    9. Hamidreza Abtahi & Marsa Gholamzadeh & Leila Shahmoradi & Mamak Shariat, 2021. "An information‐based framework for development national twin registry: Scoping review and focus group discussion," International Journal of Health Planning and Management, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(5), pages 1423-1444, September.
    10. Ridhi Kashyap & Julia Behrman, 2020. "Gender Discrimination and Excess Female Under-5 Mortality in India: A New Perspective Using Mixed-Sex Twins," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 57(6), pages 2143-2167, December.

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