Costa Rica | Life expectancy at birth, total (years)
Life expectancy at birth indicates the number of years a newborn infant would live if prevailing patterns of mortality at the time of its birth were to stay the same throughout its life. Development relevance: Mortality rates for different age groups (infants, children, and adults) and overall mortality indicators (life expectancy at birth or survival to a given age) are important indicators of health status in a country. Because data on the incidence and prevalence of diseases are frequently unavailable, mortality rates are often used to identify vulnerable populations. And they are among the indicators most frequently used to compare socioeconomic development across countries. Limitations and exceptions: Annual data series from United Nations Population Division's World Population Prospects are interpolated data from 5-year period data. Therefore they may not reflect real events as much as observed data. Statistical concept and methodology: Life expectancy at birth used here is the average number of years a newborn is expected to live if mortality patterns at the time of its birth remain constant in the future. It reflects the overall mortality level of a population, and summarizes the mortality pattern that prevails across all age groups in a given year. It is calculated in a period life table which provides a snapshot of a population's mortality pattern at a given time. It therefore does not reflect the mortality pattern that a person actually experiences during his/her life, which can be calculated in a cohort life table. High mortality in young age groups significantly lowers the life expectancy at birth. But if a person survives his/her childhood of high mortality, he/she may live much longer. For example, in a population with a life expectancy at birth of 50, there may be few people dying at age 50. The life expectancy at birth may be low due to the high childhood mortality so that once a person survives his/her childhood, he/she may live much longer than 50 years.
Publisher
The World Bank
Origin
Republic of Costa Rica
Records
63
Source
Costa Rica | Life expectancy at birth, total (years)
1960 60.415
1961 60.901
1962 61.111
1963 61.624
1964 62.083
1965 62.663
1966 63.367
1967 63.921
1968 64.428
1969 65.016
1970 65.361
1971 66.301
1972 66.716
1973 67.953
1974 68.454
1975 69.4
1976 70.294
1977 71.288
1978 72.239
1979 72.423
1980 72.899
1981 73.799
1982 74.654
1983 75.079
1984 75.091
1985 75.111
1986 75.505
1987 75.741
1988 76.106
1989 76.263
1990 76.63
1991 76.591
1992 76.627
1993 76.703
1994 76.67
1995 76.552
1996 76.804
1997 77.07
1998 76.896
1999 77.138
2000 77.586
2001 77.545
2002 77.983
2003 78.072
2004 78.331
2005 78.505
2006 78.514
2007 78.462
2008 78.445
2009 78.672
2010 78.67
2011 79.348
2012 79.283
2013 79.403
2014 78.774
2015 79.086
2016 79.459
2017 79.377
2018 79.484
2019 79.427
2020 79.277
2021 77.023
2022
Costa Rica | Life expectancy at birth, total (years)
Life expectancy at birth indicates the number of years a newborn infant would live if prevailing patterns of mortality at the time of its birth were to stay the same throughout its life. Development relevance: Mortality rates for different age groups (infants, children, and adults) and overall mortality indicators (life expectancy at birth or survival to a given age) are important indicators of health status in a country. Because data on the incidence and prevalence of diseases are frequently unavailable, mortality rates are often used to identify vulnerable populations. And they are among the indicators most frequently used to compare socioeconomic development across countries. Limitations and exceptions: Annual data series from United Nations Population Division's World Population Prospects are interpolated data from 5-year period data. Therefore they may not reflect real events as much as observed data. Statistical concept and methodology: Life expectancy at birth used here is the average number of years a newborn is expected to live if mortality patterns at the time of its birth remain constant in the future. It reflects the overall mortality level of a population, and summarizes the mortality pattern that prevails across all age groups in a given year. It is calculated in a period life table which provides a snapshot of a population's mortality pattern at a given time. It therefore does not reflect the mortality pattern that a person actually experiences during his/her life, which can be calculated in a cohort life table. High mortality in young age groups significantly lowers the life expectancy at birth. But if a person survives his/her childhood of high mortality, he/she may live much longer. For example, in a population with a life expectancy at birth of 50, there may be few people dying at age 50. The life expectancy at birth may be low due to the high childhood mortality so that once a person survives his/her childhood, he/she may live much longer than 50 years.
Publisher
The World Bank
Origin
Republic of Costa Rica
Records
63
Source