Tuesday, October 5, 2004

SPOTLIGHT: Life expectancy

We’re living longer

THE LIFE expectancy of Canadians is on the rise, but only for men, according to new mortality data.

Boys who were born in 2002 could expect to live to the record high age of 77.2, up 0.2 years from 2001. On the other hand, the life expectancy of girls at birth remained unchanged at 82.1 years.

This narrowed the gap in life expectancy between men and women to just 4.9 years. This gap has been shrinking since 1979, as men have had larger gains than women.

Between 1979 and 2002, life expectancy for men improved by 5.8 years while that of women improved by 3.3 years.

Life expectancy at the age of 65 also improved only for men. Theirs rose a slight 0.1 years, while senior women saw no gain. At age 65, life expectancy for women exceeds that for men by 3.4 years.

Based on 2002 mortality rates, Canadian men at the age of 65 can expect to live on average an additional 17.2 years. Their female counterparts could expect to live an average of 20.6 years more.

Infant mortality rate

The infant mortality rate, that is, deaths in the first year of life, increased in 2002 to 5.4 deaths for every 1,000 live births, up from 5.2 in 2001. The entire increase resulted from female infant mortality.

The female infant mortality rate increased to 4.9 deaths per 1,000 live births from 4.6 in 2001. The male infant mortality rate remained at 5.8.

The increase in the infant mortality rate was entirely due to the deaths of infants under one day old. The death rate of these newborns edged up to 2.5 per 1,000 live births from 2.3.

The increase in the infant mortality rate was especially pronounced in Alberta, where the rate rose to 7.3 deaths per 1,000 live births from 5.6.

The province’s infant mortality has risen in three of the last four years, mostly due to the deaths of infants under one day old.

Low-birth weight

Low-birth weight and pre-term births have been found by researchers to put infants at higher risk of death.

Birth data for Alberta from 1979 to 2002 show the province has had consistently higher proportions of both low-birth weight births and of pre-term births than Canada as a whole.

In 2002, 8.6% of Alberta newborns were pre-term, that is, under 37 weeks' gestation. In Canada, 7.5% of newborns were pre-term. In Alberta, 6.5% were low-birth weight, or under 2,500 grams, compared with 5.7% of newborns in Canada.

For more information, contact Patricia Tully (613-951-1759), Health Statistics Division.

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© 2004, Statistics Canada.