Life expectancy : men approaching women

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QMI agency

Wednesday, 12 July, 2017 13:38

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Wednesday, 12 July, 2017 13:38

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Women still live longer than men, but the gap is decreasing, according to data presented Wednesday by Statistics Canada.

The life expectancy at birth has increased to 2.4 months for men in 2010-2012 to 2011-2013 to reach 79.6 years, while it grew by 1.6 months among women who will live up to 83.8 years on average.

The gap in life expectancy is therefore of 4.2 years between men and women in this country, so that it was more than 7 years at the end of the 1970s. This reduction is mainly explained by the decrease of cardiovascular disease, according to Statistics Canada.

Quebec is at the national average. It is in British Columbia that the life expectancy is the highest in the country, while the lowest, by far, is in Nunavut.

Gains in the elderly

Life expectancy increases mainly because people over 65 are living longer, according to Statistics Canada.

In addition, the mortality rate was 16% higher in winter than in summer in 2013.

Compared to other countries, Canada is in 13th place among the women and 11th place for the men for life expectancy at birth in 2013. The Japanese and Swiss (men) occupy the top of the charts.

Canada ranks much better than the United States where life expectancy among women is less than 2.6 years and 3.2 years for men.