Life Table trends

Whilst Australian males are showing fairly steady reductions in mortality (of about 1.4 years every 5 years), female mortality reductions are starting to tail off a bit. According to the latest Life Tables for Australians (2005-07) as published by the Australian Government Actuary, male life expectation at birth was 1.4 yrs higher than for the previous tables (2000-02) and similar to the 5 yearly improvements from 1970-72 tables onwards of 1.6 years every 5 years.

However there are signs of moderation in the rate of improvement for females with their life expectation at birth increasing only 0.8yrs over the previous tables 5 years ago and significantly lower than the average 5 yearly rate of increase of 1.4 over the period since the 1970-72 tables. Whilst lower adult death rates from improved medical technology, reduced lifetime smoking and less accidental deaths from wearing of seat belts have significantly contributed to mortality improvement in this period, breast cancer remains a significant cause of early death without much gain from medical technology at this stage.

You can view the charts of 5 yearly improvement in Australian life expectancy at birth by clicking the following links:

Males: http://www.findem.com.au/research/mc0001.png

Females: http://www.findem.com.au/research/mc0002.png

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