Disability

The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) classifies disability in three interrelated areas, as follows:

  1. Impairment: loss or abnormality of a body part (i.e., structure) or body function (i.e., physiological function including mental functions),
  2. Activity limitation: difficulties an individual may have in executing activities, and
  3. Participation restriction: problems an individual may experience in life situations.

Disability refers to challenges faced in all three areas. Disability denotes the negative aspects of the interaction between an individual’s health condition and that individual’s environmental or personal factors (WHO 2013).

Disability is best understood as a continuum. In terms of difficulty functioning, the ‘difficulty’ can be operationalized through a range of descriptors from no difficulty at all, to some difficulty, to a lot of difficulty, to completely unable to carry out the action.  Each of these descriptors represents a possible cut-off, or threshold, in the determination of a final disability identifier; for example, to define those with and without disability.

Depending on purpose, disability prevalence is not a single statistic. It can be calculated at various thresholds to serve purpose for both data collection and reporting.  For example, if the purpose is to provide for equitable access to public spaces, then the level of inclusion for a disability identifier might be some difficulty, since those with even minor levels of difficulty functioning would likely benefit from adaptations made to remove barriers and ease access.  Alternatively, if the purpose is to provide subsidies or allowances, the level of inclusion for a disability identifier might be cannot do at all since only those with more severe functional limitations would meet stricter eligibility criteria.

Disability statistics are often captured through specific questions in population and housing censuses or through surveys.

Disability statistics can highlight disparities, such as if there are employment gaps between people with disability and people without disability.

1 - No Poverty2 - Zero Hunger3 - Good Health and Well-Being4 - Quality Education5 - Gender Equality6 - Clean Water and Sanitation7 - Affordable and Clean Energy8 - Decent Work and Economic Growth9 - Industry Innovation and Infrastructure10 - Reduced Inequalities11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities12 - Responsible Consumption and Production13 - Climate Action14 - Life Below Water15 - Life Land16 - Peace Justice and Strong Institutions17 - Partnerships Goals

Key Chart

News

News & Publications

Palau 2023 Gender Fact Sheet

August 31, 2023
The Palau gender fact sheet provides a range of indicators based on the last 2020 Palau population census.

Nauru 2021 population and housing census: analytical report

August 23, 2023
The Nauru Bureau of Statistics today released an analytical report on the 2021 Population and Housing Census.

Marshall Islands 2021 Census report Basic tables

May 30, 2023
Welcome to the Volume 1 basic tabulations of the Marshall Islands Census conducted in 2021!

Kiribati Census Atlas

July 25, 2022
Kiribati Census Atlas provides insights into people and housing across the islands.
Topic Dataflows

PDH.stat datasets

  • .statDisability statistics
    Number and proportion of persons by sex, age and urbanization for different disability types and different disability cut-off points.