The Azores are the region of the country with the lowest average life expectancy. According to the Complete Mortality Tables 2022-2024, released yesterday by the National Statistics Institute (INE), life expectancy at birth in the Azores for the three years 2022-2024 was estimated at 78.33 years, with 74.87 years for men and 81.50 years for women, representing an increase of 0.38 years for men and 0.06 years for women compared to 2021-2023. Compared to the national average, which for the 2022-2024 period was estimated at 81.49 years, with 78.73 years for men and 83.96 years for women, the difference between the region and the national average is minus 3.16 years (-3.86 for men and -2.46 for women).

Compared to the 2021-2023 period, the difference in life expectancy at birth between the national average and the Azores has widened from 2.98 years to 3.16 years. For men, the disparity increased from 3.78 to 3.86 years, and for women, it went from 2.23 to 2.46 years of life expectancy at birth. During the 2022-2024 triennium, life expectancy at birth in Portugal was estimated to be 81.49 years, representing an increase of 0.32 years (3.8 months) compared to the previous triennium (81.17 years). At birth, men could expect to live 78.73 years and women 83.96 years, which represents, compared to the estimated values for 2021-2023, an increase of 0.36 (4.3 months) and 0.29 years (3.5 months), respectively. In the 2022-2024 three-year period, the highest life expectancy at birth in the country was recorded in the North region, for the total population (82.13 years), for men (79.47 years), and for women (84.48 years). By NUTS III region, the highest life expectancy at birth was recorded in Cávado (82.94 years). For the Azores, life expectancy at age 65 was estimated at 17.83 years for the 2022-2024 triennium, representing a 0.13-year increase compared to the previous triennium.

Men aged 65 can expect to live, on average, another 15.72 years and women another 19.44 years, which corresponds to an increase of 0.36 years for men and 0.05 years for women. Compared to the national average (20.02 years), life expectancy at age 65 in the Azores is 2.05 years lower. For men, the difference is 2.58 years, and for women, 1.91 years. In Portugal, life expectancy at age 65 for the period 2022-2024 was estimated at 20.02 years for the total population. At age 65, men could expect to live another 18.30 years and women another 21.35 years, which corresponds to an increase of 0.30 years for men and 0.24 years for women compared to the 2021-2023 period. By region, in the 2022-2024 triennium, the highest life expectancy at age 65 was recorded in the North region for the total population (20.42 years) and for men (18.78 years), and in the Central region for women (21.77 years). The greatest difference in longevity between men and women in the period 2022-2024 was recorded in the Autonomous Region of the Azores, where women can expect to live, on average, 6.63 years longer than men. The West and Tagus Valley and North regions had the smallest differences in longevity between the sexes (4.86 and 5.01 years, respectively). In the Azores, the difference in longevity at age 65 between men and women was 3.72 years from 2022 to 2024. In the country as a whole, this difference was 3.05 years in the same three-year period.

Rui Leite Melo is a journalist for Diário dos Açores. Paulo Viveiros is the director

jornal@diariodosacores.pt

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