Why Are Women Living Longer Than Men

Everywhere in the world women live longer than men - but this was not always the case. The available data from rich countries shows that women didn't live longer than men in the 19th century. What's the main reason women are more likely to live longer than men? And how is this difference growing in the past? The evidence is limited and we have only limited answers. We recognize that biological, behavioral and environmental factors play a role in the fact that women have longer life spans than men, however, we aren't sure how much the influence of each one of these factors is.

It is known that women are living longer than males, regardless of weight. But this is not because of certain biological or non-biological factors have changed. These variables are evolving. Some are well known and relatively straightforward, like the fact that men smoke more often. Certain are more complicated. For example, there is evidence that in rich countries the female advantage increased in part because infectious diseases used to affect women disproportionately a century ago, so advances in medicine that reduced the long-term health burden from infectious diseases, especially for survivors, ended up raising women's longevity disproportionately.

Everywhere in the world women tend to live longer than men
The first chart below shows life expectancy at birth for men and women. As we can see, all countries are above the diagonal parity line ; it means that in all nations the newborn girl is likely to live longer than a new boy.1

It is interesting to note that while the female advantage exists in all countries, difference between countries is huge. In Russia women have an average of 10 years more than men, while in Bhutan the difference is just half each year.

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In countries with high incomes, the advantage of women in longevity was previously smaller.
Let's now look at how the advantage of women in life expectancy has changed over time. The next chart shows male and female life expectancy at birth in the US from 1790 to 2014. Two specific points stand out.

First, there's an upward trend: Men and women in the US have a much longer life span longer than they did a century ago. This is in line with historical increases in life expectancy everywhere in the world.

Second, ابر التخسيس the gap is increasing: ابر التخسيس While the advantage of women in life expectancy was once tiny but it has risen significantly over time.

You can check if these points are also applicable to other countries that have data by selecting the "Change country" option on the chart. This includes the UK, France, and Sweden.