Ireland Life Expectancy 1950-2024 (2024)

FAQs

What was the life expectancy in Ireland in 1950? ›

Between 1950 and 2012 life expectancy in Ireland grew by 15 years on average, from 66 to 81. This increase reflects real improvements in living standards and the adoption of healthier lifestyles. Reductions in smoking since the 1970s are particularly important.

The current life expectancy for Ireland in 2024 is 82.96 years, a 0.19% increase from 2023. The life expectancy for Ireland in 2023 was 82.81 years, a 0.18% increase from 2022. The life expectancy for Ireland in 2022 was 82.66 years, a 0.18% increase from 2021.

Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13089. life expectancy grew from 66.5 years for men and 71.8 years for women in 1950 to 79.3 years for men and 83.8 years for women in 2007.

According to the UN estimates the country with the best health in 1950 was Norway with a life expectancy of 72.3 years. The three maps summarize the global history of life expectancy over the last two centuries: Back in 1800 a newborn baby could only expect a short life, no matter where in the world it was born.

Mr Gloster said the gains in life expectancy had been driven by a sharp reduction in mortality from big diseases. He said the leading causes of death in Ireland include circulatory system diseases such as stroke and heart attack due to ischemic heart disease; as well as cancer and respiratory system disease.

Over half the population lived in rural areas, almost the same worked in agriculture, and just under 10 per cent worked in domestic service, a figure that would decrease dramatically in the early years. Housing, the cost of living and poverty dominated many lives, as did mortality, morality and religion.

Which countries have the highest life expectancy? Monaco has the highest life expectancy in the world in 2023, according to World Population Review, where locals live to an average age of 87.

The answers

The study, published by the Department of Health, found that over 80% of Irish people reported having very good quality of health. The report, titled 'Health in Ireland: Key Trends 2022', shows that Irish women are living an average of 84 years. This is in comparison to 81 years on average for men.

Infants, children, adults, and the elderly are all less likely to die than in the past, and death is being delayed. This remarkable shift results from advances in medicine, public health, and living standards. Along with it, many predictions of the 'limit' of life expectancy have been broken.

The life expectancy of the Early Bronze Age and its contemporaries is around 35-40 years. People died at a very young age. Infant and child mortality was very high. The limited food resources and infectious diseases were also factors, too.”

How has life expectancy changed since 1950? ›

A dramatic fall in life expectancy

With rare exceptions, life expectancy has been on the rise in the US: it was 47 years in 1900, 68 years in 1950, and by 2019 it had risen to nearly 79 years. But it fell to 77 in 2020 and dropped further, to just over 76, in 2021.

Men born in the Lesotho have the lowest life expectancy of the world as of 2023, reaching only 50 years. The lowest life expectancy for women in the world in 2023 was for girls born in Nigeria, with only 54 years. Except for Afghanistan, all the countries with the lowest life expectancy in the world are in Africa.

In 2000, the Republic of Ireland birth rate stood at 14.5 per 1,000 population. This was notably lower than the rate in 1950 of 21.4 births per 1,000.

At the beginning of the 1840s, life expectancy from birth in Ireland was just over 38 years. However, this figure would see a dramatic decline with the beginning of the Great Famine in 1845, and dropped below 21 years in the second half of the decade (in 1849 alone, life expectancy fell to just 14 years).

In 1900-1902, life expectancy at birth was 49.3 years for males and 49.6 years for females.

There are 456 people aged over 100. The average number of children per family is 1.38. There are 23,571 adults over 25 living at home. The average age of the homeless population was 31 years compared with 37 years for the general population.