COVID-19 deaths stall life expectancy increases

Life expectancy in Australia has fallen by 0.1 years in the 2020-2022 period, with a boy born today expected to live to 81.2 years and a girl to 85.3 years, according to the latest data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Beidar Cho, ABS head of demography, said:

“Australia has recorded the first decline in life expectancy since the early 1990s.

This is the first time that deaths across all three years of the COVID-19 pandemic have been used in calculating life expectancy.

The first two years of the pandemic had the two lowest mortality rates on record from all causes, however, in 2022 the number of deaths increased by 20,000, with close to 10,000 of these being due to COVID-19.”

Even with a relatively large increase in the number of deaths, the effect on life expectancy was small.

This is because, as Causes of Death figures released last month showed, over half (56%) of all deaths in 2022 were of people aged 80 years and over.

Ms Cho further said:

“Despite slightly lower life expectancy in Australia, it’s still higher than before the pandemic and continues to be one of the highest in the world, ranked third behind Monaco and Japan according to United Nations’ estimates.

We expect that most new babies in Australia today will live into the 22nd century."

The data further highlights that the Australian Capital Territory had the highest life expectancy at 82.2 years for males and 86.0 years for females.

Meanwhile, the Northern Territory had the lowest life expectancy, 76.2 years for males and 80.7 years for females.

However, the difference between the Northern Territory and the national average has decreased with male and female life expectancy in the Northern Territory showing the largest gains of all states and territories over the past 30 years (up 7.9 years and 8.2 years respectively).

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