Deaths, 2007

Life expectancy for men at birth increased with 0.1 year to 78.2 years, while life expectancy for women remained at 82,7 years.

The Pension reform has caused a lot of interest in the fast developing life expectancy of elderly people. But the expected remaining years for 62 years olds decreased a little between 2006 and 2007, regarding both sexes. It decreased with 0.2 year for men and remained unchanged for women. The same development is valid for almost all age levels above 62.

In the Nordic countries, Swedish and Icelandic men can expect to become a little older than the Norwegians, while the men in Denmark and Finland can expect to become approximately 76 years old. Newborn girls in Norway have a life expectancy of 82.7 years. Women in Sweden, Finland and Iceland can expect to become a little bit older than this, approximately 83 years old. Among the Nordic countries, only newborn Danish girls have a lower life expectancy than the Norwegians. The gap in life expectancy between men and women has not been this narrow since the 1950’s. Japan still has the highest life expectancy in the world with 85.8 years for women and 79.0 years for men in 2006.

A small increase in the number of deaths

In 2007 there were 42 000 deaths in Norway, which is an increase of 700 compared to 2006. The increase was largest for men, with 600 more deaths.

Low infant mortality

In 2007 a total of 180 children died during their first year. There were 97 boys and 83 girls. The infant mortality, i.e. the number of deaths below 1 year of age per 1000 live births, has been stable at approximately 3.1 the last four years. The infant mortality for boys in 2007 was 3.2, the lowest mortality ever recorded in Norway. The corresponding figure for girls was 2.9. In the Nordic countries, Iceland, Sweden and Finland have a little lower infant mortality than Norway, while the infant mortality in Denmark is higher.

Tables:

• Table 1 Deaths and death rates 1961-2007
• Table 2 Age-specific death rates for males and females. 1971-2007
• Table 3 Life expectancy - remaining years for males and females at selected ages. 1866-2007
• Table 4 Perinatal and infant mortality. 1956-2007
• Table 5 Life tables, 2007
• Table 6 Expectation of life for males and females at selected ages, by county. 1971-2005