Is a measure of the estimated average lifetime of people born in specific year?

Worldwide Variations in Life Expectancy

Life expectancy is the average age at death for a particular population group. Note that life expectancies are also determined for each age group, usually in 10-year increments.

Life expectancies are available for 225 populations ranging from China to the tiny sovereign states of Andorra and San Marino. As shown in Table 1, life expectancies at birth for males and females combined range from 33.23 years for Swaziland to 83.52 years for Andorra (Central Intelligence Agency, 2007).

Consistent with findings that a good environment and SES promote longevity, most of the longest living populations are found in highly developed populations with superior sanitation, education, and health care. The worst life expectancies are found in Africa with its lower economic development and very high rate of mortality from HIV/AIDS infection. The top ten populations in terms of descending life expectancy (83.52 to 80.59 years) are Andorra, Macao, Japan, Singapore, San Marino, Hong Kong, Sweden, Australia, Switzerland, and France. (Rankings shift from year to year but most of these states stay in the top ten or close to it.)

The low life expectancy of developing populations does not mean that elderly people are absent from developing populations. Since poor countries tend to have much higher infant death rates, this situation lowers the average life expectancy. In addition, early deaths of children and young adults due to malnutrition, trauma, and infections reduce the average life expectancy. However, if early death is avoided, adults often reach advanced ages (Walker, 1974; Samaras, 2007).

A common misconception in comparing today's life expectancy to that of earlier times, such as the 1900s, is the belief that individuals can expect to live 25–30 years longer. However, if we look at the life expectancy of elderly people, the picture is quite different; e.g., 60-year-old white males lived 6.6 years longer in 2004 vs 1900, and 80-year-olds lived 3 years longer.

Worldwide Variations in Life Expectancy

Life expectancy is the median age at death for a particular population group. For example, if a group of people have a life expectancy at birth of 70 years, half died before 70 and half survived beyond this age. Note that life expectancies are also determined for each age group, usually in 10-year increments.

Life expectancies are available for over 200 populations ranging from China to the tiny sovereign states of Andorra and San Marino. As shown in Table 1, life expectancy at birth for males and females combined range from 33.22 years for Swaziland to 83.51 years for Andorra (Wikipedia, 2006).

Consistent with findings that a good environment and SES promote longevity, most of the longest living populations are found in highly developed populations with superior sanitation, education, and health care. The worst life expectancies are found in Africa with its lower economic development and very high rate of mortality from HIV/AIDS infection. The top 10 populations in terms of descending life expectancy (83.51–80.42 years) are Andorra, Macau, San Marino, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, Sweden, Switzerland, Australia, and Guernsey (UK). (Depending on the year, the ranking varies somewhat, but has essentially remained unchanged over the last 15 years).

The low life expectancy of developing versus developed populations does not mean that elderly people are absent from developing populations. Since poor countries tend to have much higher infant death rates, this situation lowers the average life expectancy. In addition, early deaths of children and young adults due to malnutrition and infections reduce the average life expectancy. However, if early death is avoided, adults often reach advanced ages (Walker, 1974; Samaras, 2007, 2013).

A common misconception in comparing today's life expectancy to that of earlier times, such as the 1900s, is the belief that individuals can expect to live 25–30 years longer. However, if we look at the life expectancy of elderly people, the picture is quite different; e.g., 60-year-old white males could expect to live 6.6 years longer in 2004 versus 1900, and 80-year-olds could live 3 years longer. This is a small increase in view of the exceptional health and medical developments over the last century. Our workweek has also declined from about 60 to 40 h per week with increased worker safety and benefits.

Life expectancy at birth increased rapidly in industrialized countries from 1950 to 1970 mainly as a result of the decline in mortality from infectious diseases brought about by the introduction of antibiotics. The increase in life expectancy continued after 1970 in market economy countries. This was mainly attributable to the decline in mortality from cardiovascular diseases among middle-aged and elderly people. In the former socialist countries the increase almost ended. Female life expectancy is higher than male life expectancy in all countries, but the size of the difference varies. The sex differential increased in practically all countries from the 1950s to the late 1970s, but then started to diminish in Northern and Western Europe, North America, and Oceania, where the average difference was approximately six years in the 1990s. The lower life expectancy of men is due partly to biological and partly to behavioral factors. Persons in lower socioeconomic positions die on average at a younger age than those in higher positions. This difference is smaller among women than men. The socioeconomic mortality gap seems to have increased in many countries since the 1970s, due to the more rapid decline in mortality from cardiovascular diseases among persons in nonmanual than manual occupations.

1.2.1 The impact of pharmaceutical industries on human lives

Life expectancy throughout the world increased from an average of 30–40 years in the early twentieth century to an estimated 66.12 years in 2009.7 In the USA, life spans increased from an average of 47 years in 1950 to 78.06 years today, and US life expectancy continues to grow (Figure 1.12).

Research data suggest there is a correlation between life expectancy and the development of the pharmaceutical industry. Using aggregate time series data, Dr Frank R. Lichtenberg, a researcher at Columbia University, studied the impact of new drug approval by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on US lifespan longevity. The results show that a 40% increase in life expectancy can be attributed to new medicines (Figure 1.13). According to another study, by innovation.org and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the new drugs reduce the risk of death (Figure 1.14).

Alan Sheppard of IMS Health made an effective correlation between life expectancy and drug use in an aging Europe after collecting data from the United Nations and an IMS market prognosis (Figure 1.15).

The effect that drugs have in countering disease is exemplified by data on HIV/AIDS cases. In the 1980s there were only one or two drugs available to treat AIDS patients, but the number and availability of newer medicines increased dramatically since 1996, when highly active antiretroviral treatment (HAART) was introduced, which had an immediate effect (Figure 1.16).

During the last decade, the US FDA approved more than 300 new medicines in various disease categories, for example cancer and cardiovascular disease, which have increased patients’ survival rates and longevity, and decreased disability.

Is measured by life expectancy at birth?

What is the measure called by which the average life expectancy of citizens in a country is measured?

What is called life span?

Why is life expectancy measured?