8th of March is International Women’s Day

Women live 11 years longer than men

In 2008 life expectancy in Estonia was the highest of all times — reaching 79.2 years for women and 68.6 years for men. During the last ten years, life expectancy has increased by 3.5 years for women and by four years for men. Regardless of the increase, life expectancy of the population in Estonia remains lower than in most European Union countries. In the European Union on average, the life expectancy was 82.2 years for women and 76.1 years for men in 2008. In all European countries, women live longer than men, but in Estonia the gender difference in life expectancy — nearly 11 years — is one of the largest in the European Union.

It is important to note that life expectancy is usually regarded as the life expectancy at birth. Later on, this indicator will be influenced by infant mortality, accidents occurring to children and to the working-age population as well as other premature deaths. Therefore, in statistical terms, a 65-year-old man can expect to live 13.6 years instead of 3.6 years. In the same way, women aged 65 can expect to live 19 years and not 14 according to the 2008 indicators.

The interactive population pyramid, recently published on Statistics Estonia’s website (http://www.stat.ee/population-pyramid), presents the population change in Estonia since the year 1990 and the projections up to the year 2050. According to projections, the life expectancy of women will reach 80.4 years and that of men — 78.4 years. While the life expectancy of women was already in 2008 close to the projection of 2050, men still lag behind by nearly 10 years of life.

At the same time, one can clearly see the change in the age structure and the noticeable aging of the population in Estonia. As a result of the increasing life expectancy and decreasing birth rate, the share of the elderly constantly grows. In 40 years’ time, persons aged 65 and older will account for a quarter of the population already; in 1990 their share was two times smaller.

Comparison of the proportions of men and women in population reveals that the number of women was 8% larger than that of men in 2009. Although more boys than girls are born every year, women outnumber men starting from the age of 35. This is a result of premature deaths of men, mainly caused by accidents and injuries. Due to a higher life expectancy, the number of women aged 65+ surpasses the number of men of the same age by two times. According to projections, the gender balance of the population is going to improve and the surplus of women will start from the age of early sixties instead of 35 by the year 2050.

It is important that the increase in life expectancy should not involve deterioration of health. Healthy Life Years is an important indicator to monitor the health status of population. Relying on the statistics of 2008, women live without disability for 57 years and men for 53 years in Estonia. This indicator is one of the lowest compared to other countries of the European Union.