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Published: 24 October 2014

Life expectancy at birth longest for girls from Ostrobothnia and shortest for boys from Kainuu

According to Statistics Finland, the life expectancy of newborns during the period 2011 to 2013 was longest for girls born in the region of Ostrobothnia, 84.8 years, and shortest for boys born in the region of Kainuu, 75.3 years. Life expectancy is an age-standardised indicator that describes the level of mortality observed during the calculation period.

Life expectancy by region in 2011 to 2013, boys

Life expectancy by region in 2011 to 2013, girls

Regional differences in life expectancy larger for boys than for girls

Viewed by region, regional differences in life expectancy are large, especially for boys. The life expectancy of newborn boys in the period 2011 to 2013 was longest in Ostrobothnia, 80.1 years and shortest in Kainuu, 75.3 years.

For girls, the regional differences are not as large. The life expectancy of newborn girls was longest in Ostrobothnia, 84.8 years, and in Åland and Central Ostrobothnia, 84.3 years. The life expectancy of girls was shortest in Kainuu, 82.8 years, and in Satakunta, 82.9 years. The regional life expectancies during the period 2011 to 2013 are shown in Figures  1 and 2 and in Appendix tables 1 and 2.

Viewed by native language, the life expectancy of Swedish-speaking boys was 79.7 years during the period 2011 to 2013, which was more than two years longer than for Finnish-speaking boys, 77.3 years. The difference for girls was similar but not as large. The life expectancy of Swedish-speaking girls was 84.8 years and correspondingly, the life expectancy of Finnish-speaking girls was good one year shorter, 83.5 years.

Average life expectancy at birth was 77.8 years for boys and 83.8 years for girls in 2013

For the whole country, the life expectancy of boys was 77.8 years in 2013 and correspondingly 83.8 years for girls. Compared with 2012, the life expectancy of boys grew by 0.3 years and that of girls by 0.4 years. The difference between genders in the life expectancy has decreased somewhat, as over the past 30 years boys' life expectancy has increased by 7.7 years and that of girls by 5.5 years. The difference between genders in the life expectancy was last this small in the 1930's. The difference between genders was largest in the life expectancy in the late 1970s when it was nine years.

The life expectancy of men aged 65 men was 17.8 years and 21.5 years for women aged 65 in 2013. During the last 30 years, the life expectancy of men aged 65 has lengthened by 4.8 years and by 4.2 years for women aged 65.

Average life expectancy of men and women aged 65 in 1971 to 2013

Life expectancy of Finnish boys the 16th longest in the EU 28 countries

Based on Eurostat's 2012 statistics, in the EU 28 countries the life expectancy of boys was longest in Sweden, 79.9 years, in Italy, 79.8 years and in Spain, 79.5 years. The life expectancy of boys was shortest in Lithuania, 68.4 years and in Latvia, 68.9 years. The life expectancy for boys born in Finland was only the 16th longest.

In a similar examination, the life expectancy of girls was longest in Spain, 85.5 years, and in France, 85.4 years. The shortest life expectancy was found in Bulgaria, 77.9 years, and in Romania, 78.1 years. Finnish girls fared clearly better than Finnish boys in the comparison, as the life expectancy of Finnish girls was, based on Eurostat's 2012 statistics, the fifth longest among the EU 28 countries.

Life expectancy of married men clearly longer than that of divorced or widowed men

Examined by marital status, the life expectancy of married men was clearly longer than that of single, divorced or widowed men. During the period 2011 to 2013, the life expectancy of men living in marriage or registered same-sex partnership was 81.3 years, that of divorced men was 73.3 years, unmarried men 72.7 years and widowed men 70.9 years.

During the period 2011 to 2013, the life expectancy of women living in marriage or registered same-sex partnership was 86.0 years, that of both divorced and widowed women was 81.9 years and unmarried women 81.1 years.

Source: Population and Cause of Death Statistics. Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Markus Rapo 029 551 3238

Director in charge: Riitta Harala

Publication in pdf-format (294.9 kB)

Tables

Tables in databases

Pick the data you need into tables, view the data as graphs, or download the data for your use.

• Database tables and their variables
• Archived tables

Appendix tables

• Appendix table 1. Life expectancy of boys aged 0 by region in 1991 to 1993 and in 2011 to 2013 (24.10.2014)
• Appendix table 2. Life expectancy of girls aged 0 by region in 1991 to 1993 and in 2001 to 2013 (24.10.2014)
• Appendix table 3. Life expectancy of newborns and persons aged 65 by gender in 1971 to 2013 (24.10.2014)

Figures

• Appendix figure 1. Average life expectancy at birth in EU 28 countries in 2012, boys (24.10.2014)
• Appendix figure 2. Average life expectancy at birth in EU 28 countries in 2012, girls (24.10.2014)

Quality descriptions

• Quality description, deaths 2013 (24.10.2014)

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Updated 24.10.2014