Boys’ life expectancy declines slightly

According to Statistics Finland, the life expectancy at birth was 78.4 years for males and 84.1 years for females in 2016. The life expectancy of males decreased by 0.1 years and that of females remained unchanged from 2015, said an official press release.

Life expectancy is an age-standardised indicator that describes the level of mortality observed during the calculation period.

In 2016, the difference between sexes in life expectancy at birth was 5.7 years. In the past 30 years, the life expectancy of newborn males has increased by 7.9 years and that of females by 5.4 years. The difference between sexes was largest in the late 1970s when it was nine years.

The life expectancy of men aged 65 was 18.0 years and that of women aged 65 was 21.6 years in 2016. Compared with 1986, the life expectancy of men aged 65 has increased by 4.6 years and that of women by 4.2 years.

In 2016, the median age at death for men was 77.2 years and for women 85.4 years. In 1980, the corresponding median age at death was 68.2 years for men and 75.4 years for women.

The median age at death describes the age distribution of deaths. The median age at death shows at what age the middlemost dead person dies if persons who have died were placed in order of age. So half of all persons who died, died either at a younger or older age than the median age at death.

In the period 2014 to 2016, the life expectancy of newborn boys was longest in Ostrobothnia, 80.4 years, and shortest in Etelä-Savo, 76.6 years. Correspondingly, the life expectancy of newborn girls was longest in Ostrobothnia, 85.5 years, and shortest in North Karelia, 83.0 years.

Differences between regions in life expectancies were bigger for men than women. The life expectancy of a boy born in Ostrobothnia was 3.8 years longer than in Etelä-Savo, where boys’ life expectancy was lowest. For girls, the corresponding difference between the longest and shortest life expectancy was 2.5 years.

Men's life expectancy was shorter than that of women in all regions. In the period 2014 to 2016, the difference between sexes was biggest in Kainuu, where men’s life expectancy was 7.1 years shorter than that of women. The difference between sexes was smallest in Åland, 4.0 years.

Examined by native language, there were differences in the lengths of life expectancy in the period 2014 to 2016. The life expectancy of boys speaking Swedish as their native language was 80.8 years, which is over two years longer than the life expectancy of boys speaking Finnish as their native language, 78.2 years.

The difference for girls was similar but not as large. The life expectancy of girls speaking Swedish as their native language was 84.9 years and the life expectancy of girls speaking Finnish as their native language was nearly one year shorter, 84.0 years.

Finnish women fare well when comparing life expectancies in Nordic countries. During 30 years, the life expectancy has lengthened most in Finland for both women and men.

Finnish women over 30 years have reached the same level of life expectancy as women in Sweden and Norway. In 2016, women's life expectancy was good 84 years in all three countries. Danish women's life expectancy has stayed at a lower level throughout the reference period.

In the 1980s, Finnish men had the shortest life expectancy in the Nordic countries. During 30 years, the difference to Danish men has diminished, but in both countries the life expectancy in 2016 was still about two years shorter than in Sweden and Norway.