Taiwan's life expectancy up in 2024, but still short of pre-COVID peak

Taipei, Aug. 23 (CNA) Taiwan's average life expectancy edged higher in 2024 to 80.77 years but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 peak of 81.32 years set in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) said Saturday.

According to an MOI statement, the average life expectancy last year was an increase of 0.54 years from 2023.

For men and women, average life expectancy in 2024 was 77.42 years and 84.30 years, respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year.

Taiwan's average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, the highest ever, as Taiwan was relatively untouched by the pandemic that year.

The metric then fell to 80.86 in 2021 and then bottomed out at 79.84 in 2022, a level not seen since 2014, before rebounding to 80.23 in 2023 when the COVID-19 pandemic eased.

2020 was also the peak year for life expectancy for both men and women in Taiwan, at 78.11 years and 84.75 years, respectively.

When compared with the global average life expectancy published by the United Nations, Taiwan's average life expectancy for men and women is 6.7 years and 8.3 years higher, respectively.

The country's average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than that of China, Malaysia and Indonesia, the MOI said.

The 6.88-year difference in life expectancy between men and women in Taiwan was also relatively high, exceeding a 6-year difference in Japan, 5.8-year difference in South Korea, 4.4-year difference in Singapore, and 4-year difference in Australia, according to MOI figures.

The MOI data showed that Taipei had the highest average life expectancy last year at 83.40 years, followed by Hsinchu City (81.52 years), New Taipei (80.97 years), Chiayi City (80.67 years) and Taoyuan (80.65 years).

In terms of Taiwan's six major municipalities, all except Taoyuan saw their average life expectancy rise in 2024 compared to the previous year.

The eastern county of Taitung had the lowest life expectancy of any of Taiwan's 22 cities and counties at 75.97 years.

MOI figures also showed that total deaths in Taiwan in 2024 fell to 201,313, down 3,889 from the previous year. Among them, 152,593 were aged 65 or older, accounting for 75.8 percent of all deaths in the country.

Taiwan's crude death rate in 2024 was 8.60 per 1,000 people, down 0.19 points from 2023, the MOI said, adding that the standardized mortality rate -- a life expectancy metric that adjusts for age distribution -- was 410.27 per 100,000 people, a 4.49 percent decrease from the previous year.

The Interior Ministry said average life expectancy is an important statistical indicator for assessing a nation's basic health, overall socioeconomic well-being, and competitiveness.