Life expectancy in Taiwan hit new high in 2017

Taipei, Sept. 21 (CNA) Men and women in Taiwan can expect to live longer than ever before, according to the latest life expectancy figures released by the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) on Friday.

Life expectancy in Taiwan hit a new high of 80.4 for the population as a whole in 2017, with males and females averaging record life spans of 77.3 years and 83.7 years, respectively, the MOI numbers showed.

The latest life expectancy figure returned to its long-term growth trend after dipping in 2016 to 80 from 80.2 in 2015.

Life spans in Taiwan have risen steadily for decades, and the record set in 2017, which was up from 78.4 in 2007, reflects the improvement in the country's medical care, greater public awareness of food safety issues, and the growing popularity of physical exercise, the ministry said.

The average life expectancies of both Taiwan's males and females are higher than the world average, but lower than in such countries as Japan, Spain and Singapore, the ministry said.

Among Taiwan's six biggest metropolitan areas, Taipei residents had the longest average life expectancy of 83.6 in 2017, followed by 81.17 in New Taipei, 80.75 in Taoyuan, 80.34 in Taichung, 79.73 in Tainan and 79.08 in Kaohsiung, MOI figures showed.

In Taiwan's 16 other cities and counties, residents of Hsinchu City had the highest life expectancy at 80.9 years, while Taitung County had the lowest at 75.5.

A total of 172,028 people died in Taiwan in 2017, down 801 from 2016. That translated to a crude death rate of 7.3 per 1,000, according to the ministry.

The crude death rate refers to the number of deaths occurring throughout a year per every 1,000 people in a country.