General Article How has life expectancy changed over time?

Topic Selected: Ageing
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In 1841 the average newborn girl was not expected to see her 43rd birthday. Thankfully times have changed and so have life expectancies in the 170 years since the first life table was constructed.1

The information contained in the Decennial Life Tables release, produced every ten years, provides a fascinating insight into those changes, spanning three centuries.

In 2011 life expectancy at birth is almost double what it was in 1841

Life tables calculate the number of years a person is expected to live given that they have already reached a certain age. For example, a girl born in 2011 is expected to reach age 82.8; however, someone who was 60 years old already in 2011 was expected to live a further 25.2 years, that is until that are 85.

A newborn boy was expected to live to 40.2 in 1841, compared to 79.0 in 2011, whereas a baby girl was expected to live to 42.2 in 1841 and 82.8 in 2011.

The low life expectancies of the 19th century can be explained by the higher number of infant deat...

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