Life expectancy is the most commonly used measure to describe the health of the population and provides a useful indicator of relative mortality. Such statistics can be used to inform policy, planning and research in both the public and private sectors in areas such as health, population, pensions and insurance.
The life expectancy figures here are all period life expectancies. Period life expectancies are calculated using age specific mortality rates for a given period, and therefore provide an estimate of the average number of years a person would survive if they experienced the age specific mortality rates at that time and in that area for the remainder of their life.
Responsibility for producing Life Expectancy figures for Northern Ireland has been passed to the Department of Health (DoH). Life Expectancy for more recent years is available via the Life Expectancy in Northern Ireland DoH wepbage.