Brasília – The life expectancy of the Brazilian population has risen from 69.66 years, as of 1998, to 72.86 years, in 2008. Last year, the average life span for men was 69.11 years, and for women, 76.71 years.
The data were taken from the Complete Table of Mortality, issued today (1st) by the Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics (IBGE) and published in the Official Gazette.
According to the IBGE, it should take some time before Brazil attains high levels such as those of Japan, Hong Kong (China), Switzerland, Iceland, Australia, France and Italy, where the average life span is higher than 81 years. According to the survey, Brazil will only reach that level around 2040.
The data show, however, that there has been significant progress, considering the life expectancy of Brazilians as of 1940 – which was lower than 50 years (45.50 years).
The Complete Table of Mortality for the Brazilian population is issued on an annual basis by the IBGE since 1999 and has been used by the Brazilian Ministry of Social Welfare as one of the parameters for calculating retirement salaries, under the General Welfare Regime.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
