The population pyramids drawn for the USA, Ethiopia and China in the year 2009 and showing the proportion of each age group undoubtedly present fruitful material for comparison since the structures of population in these countries differ greatly. In general, it can be concluded that while Ethiopian people have a very short life expectancy and the elderly make up only a small proportion of population with the smallest number of people over 80, in the United States people tend to live over 60 and 70 with numerous examples of people over 85. In China only a tiny minority lives over 90-95, although the situation does not seem as critical as in Ethiopia. Ethiopia shows a steady decrease in population number starting from the date of birth, i.e. the newborns make up for the greatest proportion of population; whereas in China and the USA the most widely represented age group is formed by people from 30 to 45 and from 15 to 50 respectively.

Before interpreting the statistics and describing the ageing process for each country, we feel it important to identify the essential criteria. It goes without saying that quantitative analysis will have us look at the birth and death rates in the countries and rate of natural increase / decrease. We also have to consider infant mortality, for example, in order to explain the demographic situation in Ethiopia. We can estimate the relative quality of healthcare and ecology by investigating urbanization rates and the number of population with access to adequate sanitation both in towns and in rural areas as well as the number of HIV / AIDS-infected adults and undernourished people. To understand some peculiarities of working conditions, we have to look at literacy rates and secondary school enrollment numbers and the proportion of economically active males and females in each country.

The birth rate in Ethiopia shows a record figure of 40 children per 1,000 people, while in the USA it is only 14 children and in China – 12 which for the latter probably means the result of a strict demographic policy aimed at the reduced number of births. As to Ethiopia, the big figure had us immediately investigate such parameters as contraceptive use, the number of births attended by medically trained personnel and total fertility rate. We find that the readings depend heavily on the economic status of a person with lowest fertility rate for richest women and highest – for poorest who have a very limited access to contraception, family planning and healthcare. Only 10% of Ethiopian women get medical help in delivery which must account for a high infant mortality rate – 77 deaths for 1,000 life birth (in comparison, in China infant mortality rate is 23 and in the USA – 6.6). Naturally, the situation affects women’s life expectancy with 1 in 27 females dying in delivery (1 in 1,300 in China and only 1 in 4,800 in the USA). This means that many Ethiopian women just do not live into ripe old age.