Nations with a notable Catholic population
1. Bolivia
Catholic percent rate: 95%
Birth rate: 23.77 births/1,000 population
Life expectancy: 68.22 years
Infant mortality rate: 39.76 deaths/1,000 live births
Total fertility rate: 2.87 children born/woman
Literacy rate: 91.2%
GDP per capita: $5,200
2. Argentina
Catholic percent rate: 92%
Birth rate: 17.12-births/1,000 population
Life expectancy: 77.32 years
Infant mortality rate: 10.24 deaths/1,000 live births
Total fertility rate: 2.27 children born/woman
Literacy rate: 97.7%
GDP per capita: $18,400
3. Mexico
Catholicism percentage: 82.7%
Birth rate: 18.61 births/1,000 population
Life expectancy: 76.86 years
Infant mortality rate: 16.26 deaths/1,000 live births
Total fertility rate: 2.25 children born/woman
Literacy rate: 93.5%
GDP per capita: $15,600
4. France
Catholic percent rate: 83-88%
Birth rate: 12.60 births/1,000 population
Life expectancy: 81.56 years
Infant mortality rate: 3.34 deaths/1,000 live births
Total fertility rate: 2.08 children born/woman
Literacy rate: 99%
GDP per capita: $36,100
5. Ireland
Catholic percent rate: 87.4%
Birth rate: 15.50 births/1,000 population
Life expectancy: 80.44 years
Infant mortality rate: 3.78 deaths/1,000 live births
Total fertility rate: 2.01 children born/woman
Literacy rate: 99%
GDP per capita: $42,600
6. Chile
Catholic percent rate: 70%
Birth rate: 14.12 births/1,000 population
Life expectancy: 78.27 years
Infant mortality rate: 7.19 deaths/1,000 live births
Total fertility rate: 1.85 children born/woman
Literacy rate: 98.6%
GDP per capita: $18,700
Nations without a notable Catholic population
1. Sweden
Catholic percent rate: 1.62%
Birth rate: 10.33 births/1,000 population
Life expectancy: 81.28 years
Infant mortality rate: 2.73 deaths/1,000 live births
Total fertility rate: 1.67 children born/woman
Literacy rate: 99%
GDP per capita: $41,900
2. Cyprus
Catholic percent rate: 1.28%
Birth rate: 11.45 births/1,000 population
Life expectancy: 78.17 years
Infant mortality rate: 8.82 deaths/1,000 live births
Total fertility rate: 1.46 children born/woman
Literacy rate: 98.7%
GDP per capita: $27,500
3. Bulgaria
Catholic percent rate: 3.8%
Birth rate: 9.07 births/1,000 population
Life expectancy: 74.08 years
Infant mortality rate: 15.6 deaths/1,000 live births
Total fertility rate: 1.43 children born/woman
Literacy rate: 98.4%
GDP per capita: $14,500
Discussion
According to these facts there might be a slight correlation between a high percentage of Catholicism and some of the things I have been looking at. If we look at the birth rates of women that live in countries that have notable catholic population we see that birth rates vary from 12. 60 births per 1000 population in France and 14.12 in Chile all the way up to 18.65 in Argentina and 23.77 in Bolivia. When we look at nations without a notable catholic population we see they vary from 9.07 births per 1000 population in Bulgaria to 11.45 in Cyprus. We can see that the birth rates a lower in nations without a notable catholic population, but because Luxembourg and Cyprus has birth rates that are about the same, we will need more facts to support the statement of possible correlation between percentage of Catholicism and the facts about the nations. We can find this by looking at total fertility rates of women. Fertility rates of women from nations with a high percentage of Catholicism, we see how Chile is the only nation with a fertility rate below two children born per woman. All the other nations have more than two children born per woman, with Bolivia on top with 2.87 children born, compared to Sweden’s 1.67, Cyprus’ 1.46 and Bulgaria’s 1.43 children born per woman. These numbers really support the original statement.
Looking at education (in form of literacy rate), however, there does not seem to be a correlation between this and the percentage of Catholicism. Countries with both high and low percentage of Catholicism have a high literacy rate.
Another thing we can see is how some of these categories may have a stronger correlation with the GDP per capita, rather than a high correlation with a high percentage of Catholicism. Life expectancy is similar throughout all the nations, the only nation standing out is Bolivia, but this is more likely to have a correlation with GDP per capita, it being as low as $5,200. To support this we can also see that the country with second lowest GPA per capita, Bulgaria, also have the second lowest life expectancy, supporting the possibility of correlation. We can also look at the infant mortality rate. We can see that both countries with a high percentage (France, Ireland and Chile) and a low percentage (Sweden, Cyprus and Bulgaria) of Catholicism have a low infant mortality rate. This shows that it is more likely that there is a correlation between the infant mortality rate and the GDP per capita, for example seeing Bolivia’s 39.76 deaths per 1000 live births and GDP per capita being $5200 compared to Ireland’s 3.78 infant mortality rate and a GDP per capita being $42,600, both countries with a high percentage of Catholicism.
It is important to point out that these limited facts make it difficult to generalize a theory from what we find here, but they can point us in the right direction. However, my conclusions from these facts are that catholic prohibition may actually have an influence on the birth rate and fertility rate of women, but there is a possibility that GDP per capita has more correlation with the categories life expectancy and infant mortality rate than the high percentage of Catholicism. On the question of whether technologically conservative prohibition against birth control among Catholic populations actually works or not, these facts may show us that they might work, even if the differences between the countries are small. It is also important to point out that GDP per capita may also be an important factor affecting some of the categories in addition to the percentage of Catholicism.
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