More women than men died last year

For the first time in nearly 50 years more women than men died in Norway last year. Of last year's 44,595 deaths 22,333 were women. One of the factors behind this development is the low birth rate in the 1920s.

It may seem odd that more women are dying, as births of boys always outnumber those of girls by three to eight per cent and women live longer than men. The increase in female mortality is a consequence of the steadily growing number of elderly men born in the 1920s. Since men die an average of five to six years before women, the reduction in deaths among people born in the 1920s occurs earlier among men than women.

Stable life expectancy

The life expectancy of women in Norway has fallen slightly. Based on deaths in 1997 life expectancy for newborn girls is now 81.0 years, down 0.1 from the year before, but stable compared to the rest of the 1990s.

On the other hand, the life expectancy of newborn boys is steadily rising, just as it has since the 1960s. It is now 75.5 years. This represents a modest increase of 0.1 compared to figures from 1996. In comparison, life expectancy in Sweden is 81.6 years for women and 76.7 for men.

New Statistics

Population statistics. Deaths, 1997.
The statistics are published every year in the Weekly Bulletin of Statistics, Current Population Statistics and Official Statistics of Norway (NOS) Population Statistics. Overview. For more information, contact: kirsten.enger.dybendal@ssb.no, tel. +47 62 88 52 96, or trude.jakobsen@ssb.no, tel. +47 62 88 51 39

Weekly Bulletin issue no. 26, 1998