Very recent changes in life expectancy in Spain: men are getting closer

Juan Manuel García González, Universidad Pablo de Olavide
Rafael Grande Martín, Universidad de Málaga

Introduction and framework. As in other countries, life expectancy in Spain has risen steadily during last century. From 1910 to 2014, life expectancy at birth rose from 40.9 (42.0, females; 39.7, males) to 82.9 years (85.6; 80.1), and life expectancy at 65 rose from 10.2 (10.5; 9.8) to 21.1 years (22.9; 19.0). The life expectancy at birth and at 65 years-old gap between sexes has widened through time but, in very recent years, this widening has stopped and the gap is narrowing ostentatiously: progress is faster in men than in women. In this paper we try to explain a) why this gap is getting shorter, and b) what is happening at 65 years old, both in the period 1980-2014. Data. Data on causes of death in Spain in the period 1980-2014, from Spanish National Statistics Institute (INE), and Spanish period life tables in 1980-2012, from Human Mortality Database, and 2013-2014, from INE. Method. Decomposition of differences in life expectancy by ages (Andreev, 2002) and by causes of death (Arriaga, 1984; Nusselder and Looman, 2004). Results and preliminary conclusions. The gap between males and females has been narrowing during last 20 years, basically due to better improvements in male mortality in the age range from 0 to 75 years old. In epidemiological terms, changes in mortality in the main groups of causes of death have been favorable to women, but this trend has been changing through time.