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Life expectancy up 8.3 percent in Brazil

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-12-02 13:05

RIO DE JANEIRO -- The life expectancy of Brazilian citizens reached 72.57 years in 2007, up 8.3 percent from 67 years in 1991, according to a study released on Monday by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).

Among women, life expectancy reached 76.4 years in 2007, from 70.9 years in 1991, while the life expectancy of Brazilian men increased from 63.2 to 68.8 years in the same period.

The ratio between the mortality rates of men and women aged 20-24 increased from 3.3 in 1991 to 4.2 in 2007. The highest ratio, 4.9, was registered in the country's southeastern region, where Rio and Sao Paulo are located.

According to the IBGE, if not for the high rates of deaths by external causes among young males, life expectancy in Brazil could have reached 74 or 75 years. Most of those deaths are a result of the high violence rates in the country.

The regional differences in the life expectancy rates had a slight decrease in the country. In 1991, the differences between the highest and lowest life expectancy rates per state reached 18.98 years; in 2007, the difference fell to 16.32 years.

The highest differences between the life expectancies of men and women were registered in the states of Rio de Janeiro, with 8.8 years, and Sao Paulo, with 8.1 years.

Brazil's infant mortality rate dropped to 24.3 deaths for every 1,000 live births in 2007, a 46 percent decrease from the 45.1 deaths per 1,000 births in 1991.

The regional differences in infant mortality rates remain high. The northeastern region, the poorest in Brazil, registered an infant mortality rate of 35.6 deaths per 1,000 living births; in the southern region, which has the best human development index in the country, the rate was 16.1 deaths per 1,000 living births.

As a signer of the UN Millennium Declaration, Brazil committed to reducing its infant mortality rate to 15 deaths per 1,000 living births by 2015. According to the latest projections, in 2015 the country's infant mortality rate will be 18.2 deaths per 1,000 births.

According to the IBGE, Brazil's 2010 Census will provide the necessary data the government will need in order to adjust its policies to reach the Millennium Goal.