Israel 11th in OECD in life expectancy

CBS study measures healthy years

Life expectancy in Israel rose to an overall average of 82.5 years in 2016, with 80.7 for men and 84.2 for women, according to a Central Bureau of Statistics report released Monday.

The figures represented a very slight increase from 2015 – placing Israel 11th globally among OECD countries – and a drop from eighth place held between 2010 and 2013.

For the first time, the report presented data compiled by EUROSTAT and the World Health Organization on “Healthy Life Years” (HLY), which measures the number of years in which a person is expected to live in good health.

The findings indicated that for those born in 2016, 65.4 healthy life years are expected for men and 65.1 for women. Furthermore, the data indicated women are expected to live 77% of their lives without any disability, compared to 81% of men’s lives.

In Europe, by comparison, the average HLY in 2014 was 61.8 years for women and 61.4 years for men. European women could expect to live 74% of their lives without disability and their male counterparts could expect to live 78% disability-free years.

The CBS report presented Israeli life expectancy according to gender, sector and education level.

The findings indicated that women in Israel live on average 3.5 years longer than men; Jewish men live on average 4.3 years longer than Arab men; and Jewish women live on average 3.3 years longer than Arab women.

The report also highlighted differences in life expectancy based on religion: Among Arab men, Druze lived on average 79.4 years; Christian Arabs lived an average of 78.9 years; and Muslims lived an average of 76.5 years.

Among Arab women, the highest life expectancy was found among Christian Arabs, at 83.5 years, followed by Druse at 82.4 years, and Muslims at 80.9 years.

The data also found that 30-yearold men with a higher education in 2016 were expected to live 7.4 years longer than men of the same age with less than 12 years of education. Women with a higher education at the same age were expected to live five years longer than their female counterparts with less than 12 years of education.

Of cities with a population of more than 100,000, Ramat Gan had the highest overall life expectancy, with an average of 84.4 years, and Beersheba had the lowest, with an average of 81 years.