U.S. Decennial Life Tables for 2009-2011, United States Life Tables

Area of Science:

• Demography
• Public Health
• Biostatistics

Background:

• The United States has a long history of decennial life tables, with the latest report covering the period 2009-2011.
• This series marks the first inclusion of life tables broken down by Hispanic origin.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present period life tables for the United States based on age-specific death rates from 2009-2011.
• To analyze life expectancy trends by race, Hispanic origin, and sex.

Main Methods:

• Utilized population estimates from the 2010 decennial census.
• Incorporated death data for U.S. residents from 2009-2011 and birth data from 2007-2011.
• Employed specific methodologies for estimating life tables for the Hispanic population (since 2006) and other groups (since 2008).

Main Results:

• Overall U.S. life expectancy at birth was 78.60 years during 2009-2011, a substantial increase from 49.24 years in 1900.
• Significant life expectancy gains were observed for all racial and sex groups between 1900 and 2010.
• Hispanic females exhibited the highest life expectancy at birth (84.05 years) during 2009-2011, followed by non-Hispanic white females (81.06 years).

Conclusions:

• Life expectancy in the United States has shown a remarkable upward trend over the past century.
• The inclusion of Hispanic origin in life table calculations provides new demographic insights.
• Disparities in life expectancy persist across different racial and ethnic groups.