Life expectancy and cause of death in the Kuwaiti population 1987-2000

Census and health data were analysed to determine changes in life expectancy at birth during 1987-2000 in the Kuwaiti population and to correlate these with cause-specific annual mortality rates. Life expectancy at birth rose from 73.3 to 75.5 years with a gap between females and males, which increased from 2.2 to 4.5 years. For all causes of death except hypertension and ill-defined conditions, males had higher mortality than females. The leading causes of death in males were ischaemic heart diseases, traffic accidents and cancer, while in females they were cancer, ischaemic heart diseases and hypertension. The problems of an ageing population will need to be considered in planning the health policies of Kuwait.