South Africa | Life expectancy at birth, female (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 South Africa
Records
63
Source
South Africa | Life expectancy at birth, female (years)
54.751 1960
55.254 1961
55.595 1962
55.905 1963
56.217 1964
56.555 1965
56.864 1966
57.22 1967
57.506 1968
57.888 1969
58.317 1970
58.767 1971
59.175 1972
59.669 1973
60.163 1974
60.652 1975
61.21 1976
61.794 1977
62.366 1978
62.814 1979
63.224 1980
63.832 1981
64.296 1982
64.773 1983
65.014 1984
65.405 1985
65.942 1986
65.968 1987
66.475 1988
66.356 1989
66.712 1990
66.945 1991
67.067 1992
66.832 1993
66.189 1994
65.749 1995
64.721 1996
63.828 1997
62.883 1998
62.008 1999
61.049 2000
59.47 2001
57.668 2002
56.232 2003
55.721 2004
55.431 2005
55.892 2006
56.852 2007
58.111 2008
59.722 2009
61.266 2010
63.111 2011
64.449 2012
65.267 2013
66.259 2014
66.781 2015
67.794 2016
68.43 2017
68.74 2018
69.107 2019
67.964 2020
64.999 2021
2022

South Africa | Life expectancy at birth, female (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 South Africa
Records
63
Source