According to the latest data from the National Statistics Institute (INE), the Azores and Madeira have the lowest life expectancy rates in the country.
According to the INE, in the three years 2021-2023, “the North region recorded the highest life expectancy at birth for the total population (81.82 years), for men (79.16 years) and for women (84.16 years)”.
At the other extreme are Madeira and the Azores, “where the lowest values were observed, both for the total population (79.07 and 78.19 years respectively) and for men and women”.
There is still a difference between men and women, which is more evident in the autonomous regions. “The biggest differences in longevity between men and women in the 2021-2023 period were in the Autonomous Regions of the Azores and Madeira, where women can expect to live, on average, 6.85 and 6.48 years longer than men, respectively. In the Oeste e Vale do Tejo and Norte regions, there were the smallest differences in longevity between the sexes (4.89 and 5 years, respectively),” says the INE publication.

In national terms, life expectancy was estimated at 81.17 years for the entire population, 78.37 years for men, and 83.67 years for women. Compared to the period from 2020 to 2022, this is an increase of 0.32 years for men and 0.15 years for women.
Between 2020 and 2022, the Azores’ life expectancy at birth was calculated at 78.04 years for the entire population, 74.43 years for men, and 81.37 years for women.
The number rises between 2021 and 2023 to the 78.19 years mentioned above, with men registering 74.59 years and women 81.44 years.
Life expectancy at 65 was also analyzed.
In the three-year period 2021-2023, the Azores had an average age of 17.70, 15.36 for men and 19.39 for women.
“Life expectancy at 65 exceeded the national figure (19.75 years) in 16 regions. The Cávado and Ave regions recorded the highest values for life expectancy at 65: 20.72 and 20.45 years, respectively. The lowest value, below 18 years, was in the Autonomous Region of the Azores”, as noted by the study.
The National Statistics Institute states that “the life table is a mathematical model of demographic analysis that synthesizes a set of functions that make it possible to analyze, in a given population, the phenomenon of longevity and to make probabilistic judgments about the evolution of mortality with age and time.”

in Diário Insular-José Lourenço-director

Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Department (MCLL) as part of Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Media Alliance) at California State University, Fresno, PBBI thanks Luso Financial for sponsoring NOVIDADES.