Differences in the life expectancies of the sexes in various countries in the world
— as per data collected by the WHO for the year
2009
This web page contains
statistics on the life expectancies of the sexes in various countries in the
world. The statistics shown on this page are a bit dated, from the
year 2009, as per the World Health Organization. You may wish to
check the source for more
recent data. You can perform that little exercise by yourself and
will find that the gender-gap in the life-expectancies of the sexes has
widened a little more since that time. Certainly, life expectancies
since then increased for both men and women, but on average more so for
women. So what is the problem with that?
There is not much of a problem, at least not one that men complain about.
After all, who can argue with the truth? The truth will set us free,
as the saying goes, but when the truth is inconvenient, it could become a
problem, such as when the shorter average life-expectancies of men in the
majority of the nations in the world must be presented in such a way as to
show that men's earlier deaths are a serious inconvenience to women's
quality of life when women reach the end of their days.
That is a truth, too, a truth that from that perspective must be presented as a
serious impediment to women's happiness, such as in Women: Victims of Men's Shorter Life Span (off-site).
Of course, rather than to look at this from such a biased but
politically-correct perspective, one could look at the gender-gap in the
life-expectancies of the sexes in a more objective fashion and simply state
that the gender-gap exists, and that it favours women. As comedian
Alan King showed in 1987, in
Survived by his
wife, the truth about the gender-gap in life-expectancies can be made to
look very funny and even hilarious (what could be a better reason for making a
joke than to make fun of the early death of men?). Still, as Alan King illustrated in
his presentation, telling the truth and nothing but the truth about such
matters is likely to have the consequence that an elected official calls the
truth-teller a male, chauvinist pig. That is a good thing, too, as thereby
any possible complaints by men about having to die so much sooner than women
can be nipped in the bud. (/sarc)
Index to tables
2009 Life expectancy for males and females at birth
- All Countries (Table A)
- The 15 countries in which women have the least advantage
(in years
of life expectancy) over men (Table B)
- The 15 countries in which women have the largest
advantage (in years
of life expectancy) over men (Table C)
- The 15 countries with the highest life expectancy for
women (Table D)
- The 15 countries with the lowest life expectancies for
women (Table E)
With the exception of only six countries in the
world, in all countries (see Table
A) women can expect to live longer than men do, in some countries by a considerable margin
(by as much as 14 years).
Contrary to popular opinion, Afghanistan is not the country in which women
are worst off as far as their average life expectancy goes there; Chad and the Central
African Republic share that reputation. In those latter two countries
women can expect to live
on average for 48 years, while Afghani women can expect to live on average
for 50 years -- three more years than Afghani men can expect to live (see Table E).
Japanese women can expect to live the longest, for 86
years (six more years than Japanese men can expect to live), while the second place in the ranking of countries for women's life
expectancy is shared by Monaco, Spain, France, Andorra and San Marino with
85 years (see Table D).
Just as the statistics for the year 2000 showed, the group of countries
in which women enjoy the largest advantage over the life expectancy of men
is still being dominated by countries of the former USSR. Women's
advantage over men in life expectancy ranges there from 12 years down to 10 years
(see Table C). It can therefore be argued that
totalitarian socialism has been very good for women of the countries in the
former USSR, but that is an illusion. Take for example the Russian
Federation. The average life expectancy for Russian women at birth is
only 74 years (100th place out of 193 countries) and for Russian men it is
far less than that, 62 years (137th place out of 193 countries). The
harsh reality of socialist bliss for Russian women is that they did not get
much of it, far less than women in many other countries did, and that their
illusory gains came at a terrible price to Russian men.
________________________ Life
expectancy is not the only measure of quality of life. The UN has since 1990 annually published a Human Development Index that ranks countries
by quality of life based on a combination of indicators, such as life expectancy, availability of schooling (but not the quality of schooling), the GDP
per capita, availability of health care (but not the quality of health care) and more. The UN Human Development Index has shortcomings that have been addressed by the Fraser Institute in
a more realistic alternative to the UN Human Development Index.
An additional indicator that should be used by the UN as well as by the Fraser Institute to measure the quality of life in a given nation is a measure of how
satisfied people in a nation are with their quality of life.
Suicide rates are a very
good indicator that can be be used for that. It surely can be no
accident that the ranking of nations according to life-expectancies very
closely matches that according to suicide rates.
By both of these measures, life expectancies as well as
suicide rates, men's lives are almost exclusively in all nations far worse than those of women's.
Just about all of the men in the world could use a good portion of the
gender equity that made women so "much more equal" than men.
Table A
2009 Life expectancy for males and females at birth (years)
Source: World Health Organization
http://apps.who.int/ghodata/?vid=710#
All Countries
|
Rank(*) |
Location |
Male |
Female |
Average |
Difference |
1 |
San Marino |
82 |
85 |
83 |
3 |
2 |
Japan |
80 |
86 |
83 |
6 |
3 |
Australia |
80 |
84 |
82 |
4 |
4 |
Switzerland |
80 |
84 |
82 |
4 |
5 |
Iceland |
80 |
83 |
82 |
3 |
6 |
Israel |
80 |
83 |
82 |
3 |
7 |
Andorra |
79 |
85 |
82 |
6 |
8 |
Italy |
79 |
84 |
82 |
5 |
9 |
Singapore |
79 |
84 |
82 |
5 |
10 |
Canada |
79 |
83 |
81 |
4 |
11 |
New Zealand |
79 |
83 |
81 |
4 |
12 |
Norway |
79 |
83 |
81 |
4 |
13 |
Sweden |
79 |
83 |
81 |
4 |
14 |
Monaco |
78 |
85 |
82 |
7 |
15 |
Spain |
78 |
85 |
82 |
7 |
16 |
France |
78 |
85 |
81 |
7 |
17 |
Cyprus |
78 |
83 |
81 |
5 |
18 |
Luxembourg |
78 |
83 |
81 |
5 |
19 |
Netherlands |
78 |
83 |
81 |
5 |
20 |
Austria |
78 |
83 |
80 |
5 |
21 |
Germany |
78 |
83 |
80 |
5 |
22 |
Greece |
78 |
83 |
80 |
5 |
23 |
Malta |
78 |
82 |
80 |
4 |
24 |
United Kingdom |
78 |
82 |
80 |
4 |
25 |
Kuwait |
78 |
79 |
78 |
1 |
26 |
Qatar |
78 |
79 |
78 |
1 |
27 |
Belgium |
77 |
83 |
80 |
6 |
28 |
Finland |
77 |
83 |
80 |
6 |
29 |
Republic of Korea |
77 |
83 |
80 |
6 |
30 |
Ireland |
77 |
82 |
80 |
5 |
31 |
Costa Rica |
77 |
81 |
79 |
4 |
32 |
Denmark |
77 |
81 |
79 |
4 |
33 |
United Arab Emirates |
77 |
79 |
78 |
2 |
34 |
Chile |
76 |
82 |
79 |
6 |
35 |
Portugal |
76 |
82 |
79 |
6 |
36 |
Slovenia |
76 |
82 |
79 |
6 |
37 |
United States of America |
76 |
81 |
79 |
5 |
38 |
Cuba |
76 |
80 |
78 |
4 |
39 |
Brunei Darussalam |
76 |
77 |
77 |
1 |
40 |
Czech Republic |
74 |
80 |
77 |
6 |
41 |
Panama |
74 |
79 |
77 |
5 |
42 |
Peru |
74 |
77 |
76 |
3 |
43 |
Maldives |
74 |
76 |
75 |
2 |
44 |
Barbados |
73 |
80 |
76 |
7 |
45 |
Colombia |
73 |
80 |
76 |
7 |
46 |
Croatia |
73 |
79 |
76 |
6 |
47 |
Bosnia and Herzegovina |
73 |
78 |
76 |
5 |
48 |
Mexico |
73 |
78 |
76 |
5 |
49 |
Ecuador |
73 |
78 |
75 |
5 |
50 |
Tunisia |
73 |
77 |
75 |
4 |
51 |
Antigua and Barbuda |
73 |
76 |
74 |
3 |
52 |
Bahrain |
73 |
76 |
74 |
3 |
53 |
Cook Islands |
72 |
80 |
76 |
8 |
54 |
Uruguay |
72 |
79 |
76 |
7 |
55 |
Argentina |
72 |
79 |
75 |
7 |
56 |
Bahamas |
72 |
78 |
76 |
6 |
57 |
Montenegro |
72 |
77 |
75 |
5 |
58 |
Turkey |
72 |
77 |
75 |
5 |
59 |
Oman |
72 |
77 |
74 |
5 |
60 |
Paraguay |
72 |
77 |
74 |
5 |
61 |
China |
72 |
76 |
74 |
4 |
62 |
Dominica |
72 |
76 |
74 |
4 |
63 |
The former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia |
72 |
76 |
74 |
4 |
64 |
Albania |
72 |
75 |
73 |
3 |
65 |
Tonga |
72 |
70 |
71 |
-2 |
66 |
Poland |
71 |
80 |
76 |
9 |
67 |
Slovakia |
71 |
79 |
75 |
8 |
68 |
Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) |
71 |
78 |
75 |
7 |
69 |
Saint Kitts and Nevis |
71 |
78 |
74 |
7 |
70 |
Saint Lucia |
71 |
78 |
74 |
7 |
71 |
Lebanon |
71 |
77 |
74 |
6 |
72 |
Nicaragua |
71 |
77 |
74 |
6 |
73 |
Serbia |
71 |
76 |
74 |
5 |
74 |
Syrian Arab Republic |
71 |
76 |
74 |
5 |
75 |
Belize |
71 |
76 |
73 |
5 |
76 |
Malaysia |
71 |
76 |
73 |
5 |
77 |
Morocco |
71 |
75 |
73 |
4 |
78 |
Algeria |
71 |
74 |
72 |
3 |
79 |
Dominican Republic |
71 |
72 |
71 |
1 |
80 |
Estonia |
70 |
80 |
75 |
10 |
81 |
Hungary |
70 |
78 |
74 |
8 |
82 |
Bulgaria |
70 |
77 |
74 |
7 |
83 |
Brazil |
70 |
77 |
73 |
7 |
84 |
Romania |
70 |
77 |
73 |
7 |
85 |
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines |
70 |
76 |
73 |
6 |
86 |
Iran (Islamic Republic of) |
70 |
75 |
73 |
5 |
87 |
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya |
70 |
75 |
72 |
5 |
88 |
Viet Nam |
70 |
74 |
72 |
4 |
89 |
Grenada |
69 |
77 |
73 |
8 |
90 |
Seychelles |
69 |
77 |
73 |
8 |
91 |
Mauritius |
69 |
76 |
73 |
7 |
92 |
Saudi Arabia |
69 |
75 |
72 |
6 |
93 |
Jamaica |
69 |
74 |
71 |
5 |
94 |
Jordan |
69 |
74 |
71 |
5 |
95 |
Egypt |
69 |
73 |
71 |
4 |
96 |
Solomon Islands |
69 |
72 |
71 |
3 |
97 |
Vanuatu |
69 |
72 |
71 |
3 |
98 |
Lithuania |
68 |
79 |
73 |
11 |
99 |
Palau |
68 |
77 |
72 |
9 |
100 |
El Salvador |
68 |
76 |
72 |
8 |
101 |
Suriname |
68 |
75 |
72 |
7 |
102 |
Samoa |
68 |
72 |
70 |
4 |
103 |
Micronesia (Federated States of) |
68 |
70 |
69 |
2 |
104 |
Latvia |
67 |
77 |
72 |
10 |
105 |
Georgia |
67 |
75 |
71 |
8 |
106 |
Philippines |
67 |
73 |
70 |
6 |
107 |
Honduras |
67 |
73 |
69 |
6 |
108 |
Democratic People's Republic of
Korea |
67 |
72 |
70 |
5 |
109 |
Niue |
66 |
80 |
72 |
14 |
110 |
Cape Verde |
66 |
75 |
71 |
9 |
111 |
Trinidad and Tobago |
66 |
75 |
70 |
9 |
112 |
Armenia |
66 |
74 |
70 |
8 |
113 |
Thailand |
66 |
74 |
70 |
8 |
114 |
Fiji |
66 |
73 |
69 |
7 |
115 |
Guatemala |
66 |
73 |
69 |
7 |
116 |
Uzbekistan |
66 |
71 |
69 |
5 |
117 |
Indonesia |
66 |
71 |
68 |
5 |
118 |
Azerbaijan |
66 |
70 |
68 |
4 |
119 |
Bolivia (Plurinational State of) |
66 |
70 |
68 |
4 |
120 |
Sao Tome and Principe |
66 |
70 |
68 |
4 |
121 |
Tajikistan |
66 |
69 |
68 |
3 |
122 |
Sri Lanka |
65 |
76 |
71 |
11 |
123 |
Mongolia |
65 |
74 |
69 |
9 |
124 |
Republic of Moldova |
65 |
73 |
69 |
8 |
125 |
Kiribati |
65 |
70 |
68 |
5 |
126 |
Nepal |
65 |
69 |
67 |
4 |
127 |
Belarus |
64 |
76 |
70 |
12 |
128 |
Guyana |
64 |
70 |
67 |
6 |
129 |
Timor-Leste |
64 |
69 |
67 |
5 |
130 |
Eritrea |
64 |
68 |
66 |
4 |
131 |
Bangladesh |
64 |
66 |
65 |
2 |
132 |
Tuvalu |
64 |
63 |
64 |
-1 |
133 |
Kyrgyzstan |
63 |
70 |
66 |
7 |
134 |
Madagascar |
63 |
67 |
65 |
4 |
135 |
Yemen |
63 |
67 |
65 |
4 |
136 |
India |
63 |
66 |
65 |
3 |
137 |
Russian Federation |
62 |
74 |
68 |
12 |
138 |
Ukraine |
62 |
74 |
68 |
12 |
139 |
Iraq |
62 |
70 |
66 |
8 |
140 |
Bhutan |
62 |
65 |
63 |
3 |
141 |
Papua New Guinea |
62 |
65 |
63 |
3 |
142 |
Lao People's Democratic Republic |
62 |
64 |
63 |
2 |
143 |
Pakistan |
62 |
64 |
63 |
2 |
144 |
Myanmar |
61 |
67 |
64 |
6 |
145 |
Turkmenistan |
60 |
67 |
63 |
7 |
146 |
Gabon |
60 |
64 |
62 |
4 |
147 |
Haiti |
60 |
63 |
62 |
3 |
148 |
Senegal |
60 |
63 |
62 |
3 |
149 |
Kazakhstan |
59 |
70 |
64 |
11 |
150 |
Botswana |
59 |
62 |
61 |
3 |
151 |
Sudan |
59 |
59 |
59 |
0 |
152 |
Comoros |
58 |
62 |
60 |
4 |
153 |
Djibouti |
58 |
62 |
60 |
4 |
154 |
Kenya |
58 |
62 |
60 |
4 |
155 |
Gambia |
58 |
61 |
60 |
3 |
156 |
Marshall Islands |
58 |
60 |
59 |
2 |
157 |
Cambodia |
57 |
65 |
61 |
8 |
158 |
Ghana |
57 |
64 |
60 |
7 |
159 |
Togo |
57 |
61 |
59 |
4 |
160 |
Rwanda |
57 |
60 |
59 |
3 |
161 |
Mauritania |
57 |
60 |
58 |
3 |
162 |
Niger |
57 |
58 |
57 |
1 |
163 |
Nauru |
56 |
65 |
60 |
9 |
164 |
Benin |
54 |
60 |
57 |
6 |
165 |
Liberia |
54 |
57 |
56 |
3 |
166 |
South Africa |
54 |
55 |
54 |
1 |
167 |
Namibia |
53 |
62 |
57 |
9 |
168 |
United Republic of Tanzania |
53 |
58 |
55 |
5 |
169 |
Congo |
53 |
57 |
55 |
4 |
170 |
Ethiopia |
53 |
56 |
54 |
3 |
171 |
Nigeria |
53 |
54 |
54 |
1 |
172 |
Equatorial Guinea |
53 |
54 |
53 |
1 |
173 |
Angola |
51 |
53 |
52 |
2 |
174 |
Cameroon |
51 |
51 |
51 |
0 |
175 |
Somalia |
51 |
51 |
51 |
0 |
176 |
Mali |
50 |
56 |
53 |
6 |
177 |
Burkina Faso |
49 |
56 |
52 |
7 |
178 |
Guinea |
49 |
55 |
52 |
6 |
179 |
Côte d'Ivoire |
49 |
52 |
50 |
3 |
180 |
Burundi |
49 |
51 |
50 |
2 |
181 |
Central African Republic |
49 |
48 |
48 |
-1 |
182 |
Uganda |
48 |
57 |
52 |
9 |
183 |
Sierra Leone |
48 |
50 |
49 |
2 |
184 |
Democratic Republic of the Congo |
47 |
51 |
49 |
4 |
185 |
Guinea-Bissau |
47 |
51 |
49 |
4 |
186 |
Mozambique |
47 |
51 |
49 |
4 |
187 |
Swaziland |
47 |
50 |
49 |
3 |
188 |
Zimbabwe |
47 |
50 |
49 |
3 |
189 |
Afghanistan |
47 |
50 |
48 |
3 |
190 |
Chad |
47 |
48 |
48 |
1 |
191 |
Lesotho |
46 |
50 |
48 |
4 |
192 |
Zambia |
46 |
50 |
48 |
4 |
193 |
Malawi |
44 |
51 |
47 |
7 |
* Ranked by men's average life
expectancy for each country shown |
Table B
2009 Life expectancy at birth (years)
Source: World Health Organization
http://apps.who.int/ghodata/?vid=710#
The 15 countries in which women have the least advantage
(in years) over men
|
Rank(*) |
Location |
Male |
Female |
Average |
Difference |
190 |
Chad |
47 |
48 |
48 |
1 |
171 |
Nigeria |
53 |
54 |
54 |
1 |
172 |
Equatorial Guinea |
53 |
54 |
53 |
1 |
166 |
South Africa |
54 |
55 |
54 |
1 |
162 |
Niger |
57 |
58 |
57 |
1 |
79 |
Dominican Republic |
71 |
72 |
71 |
1 |
39 |
Brunei Darussalam |
76 |
77 |
77 |
1 |
25 |
Kuwait |
78 |
79 |
78 |
1 |
26 |
Qatar |
78 |
79 |
78 |
1 |
174 |
Cameroon |
51 |
51 |
51 |
0 |
175 |
Somalia |
51 |
51 |
51 |
0 |
151 |
Sudan |
59 |
59 |
59 |
0 |
181 |
Central African Republic |
49 |
48 |
48 |
-1 |
132 |
Tuvalu |
64 |
63 |
64 |
-1 |
65 |
Tonga |
72 |
70 |
71 |
-2 |
* Ranked by men's average life expectancy for each country shown |
Table C
2009 Life expectancy at birth (years)
Source: World Health Organization
http://apps.who.int/ghodata/?vid=710#
The 15 countries in which women have the largest
advantage (in years) over men
|
Rank(*) |
Location |
Male |
Female |
Average |
Difference |
109 |
Niue |
66 |
80 |
72 |
14 |
137 |
Russian Federation |
62 |
74 |
68 |
12 |
138 |
Ukraine |
62 |
74 |
68 |
12 |
127 |
Belarus |
64 |
76 |
70 |
12 |
149 |
Kazakhstan |
59 |
70 |
64 |
11 |
122 |
Sri Lanka |
65 |
76 |
71 |
11 |
98 |
Lithuania |
68 |
79 |
73 |
11 |
104 |
Latvia |
67 |
77 |
72 |
10 |
80 |
Estonia |
70 |
80 |
75 |
10 |
182 |
Uganda |
48 |
57 |
52 |
9 |
167 |
Namibia |
53 |
62 |
57 |
9 |
163 |
Nauru |
56 |
65 |
60 |
9 |
110 |
Cape Verde |
66 |
75 |
71 |
9 |
111 |
Trinidad and Tobago |
66 |
75 |
70 |
9 |
* Ranked by men's average life expectancy for each country shown |
Table D
2009 Life expectancy at birth (years)
Source: World Health Organization
http://apps.who.int/ghodata/?vid=710#
The 15 countries with the highest life expectancy for
women
|
Rank(*) |
Location |
Male |
Female |
Average |
Difference |
2 |
Japan |
80 |
86 |
83 |
6 |
14 |
Monaco |
78 |
85 |
82 |
7 |
15 |
Spain |
78 |
85 |
82 |
7 |
16 |
France |
78 |
85 |
81 |
7 |
7 |
Andorra |
79 |
85 |
82 |
6 |
1 |
San Marino |
82 |
85 |
83 |
3 |
8 |
Italy |
79 |
84 |
82 |
5 |
9 |
Singapore |
79 |
84 |
82 |
5 |
3 |
Australia |
80 |
84 |
82 |
4 |
4 |
Switzerland |
80 |
84 |
82 |
4 |
27 |
Belgium |
77 |
83 |
80 |
6 |
28 |
Finland |
77 |
83 |
80 |
6 |
29 |
Republic of Korea |
77 |
83 |
80 |
6 |
17 |
Cyprus |
78 |
83 |
81 |
5 |
18 |
Luxembourg |
78 |
83 |
81 |
5 |
* Ranked by men's average life
expectancy for each country shown |
Table E
2009 Life expectancy at birth (years)
Source: World Health Organization
http://apps.who.int/ghodata/?vid=710#
The 15 countries with the lowest life expectancies for
women
|
Rank(*)
|
Location |
Male
|
Female
|
Average
|
Difference
|
193 |
Malawi |
44 |
51 |
47 |
7 |
184 |
Democratic Republic of the
Congo |
47 |
51 |
49 |
4 |
185 |
Guinea-Bissau |
47 |
51 |
49 |
4 |
186 |
Mozambique |
47 |
51 |
49 |
4 |
180 |
Burundi |
49 |
51 |
50 |
2 |
174 |
Cameroon |
51 |
51 |
51 |
0 |
175 |
Somalia |
51 |
51 |
51 |
0 |
191 |
Lesotho |
46 |
50 |
48 |
4 |
192 |
Zambia |
46 |
50 |
48 |
4 |
187 |
Swaziland |
47 |
50 |
49 |
3 |
188 |
Zimbabwe |
47 |
50 |
49 |
3 |
189 |
Afghanistan |
47 |
50 |
48 |
3 |
183 |
Sierra Leone |
48 |
50 |
49 |
2 |
190 |
Chad |
47 |
48 |
48 |
1 |
181 |
Central African Republic |
49 |
48 |
48 |
-1 |
* Ranked by men's average life
expectancy for each country shown |
__________________ Posted 2011
06 17 |