National Vital Statistics Report

National Vital

Statistics Reports

Volume 68, Number 7

June 24, 2019

United States Life Tables, 2017

by Elizabeth Arias, Ph.D., and Jiaquan Xu, M.D., Division of Vital Statistics

Abstract

Objectives¡ªThis report presents complete period life tables

for the United States by race, Hispanic origin, and sex, based on

age-specific death rates in 2017.

Methods¡ªData used to prepare the 2017 life tables are

2017 final mortality statistics; July 1, 2017 population estimates

based on the 2010 decennial census; and 2017 Medicare data

for persons aged 66¨C99. The methodology used to estimate the

life tables for the Hispanic population remains unchanged from

that developed for the publication of life tables by Hispanic origin

for data year 2006. The methodology used to estimate the 2017

life tables for all other groups was first implemented with data

year 2008.

Results¡ªIn 2017, the overall expectation of life at birth

was 78.6 years, decreasing from 78.7 in 2016. Between 2016

and 2017, life expectancy at birth decreased by 0.1 year for

males (76.2 to 76.1) and did not change for females (81.1).

Life expectancy at birth decreased by 0.1 year for the white

population (78.9 to 78.8) and the non-Hispanic white population

(78.6 to 78.5) between 2016 and 2017. Life expectancy at birth

did not change from 2016 for the black population (75.3), the

non-Hispanic black population (74.9), and the Hispanic

population (81.8).

Keywords: life expectancy ? survival ? death rates ? race ? Hispanic

origin

Introduction

There are two types of life tables: the cohort (or generation)

life table and the period (or current) life table. The cohort life

table presents the mortality experience of a particular birth

cohort¡ªall persons born in the year 1900, for example¡ªfrom

the moment of birth through consecutive ages in successive

calendar years. Based on age-specific death rates observed

through consecutive calendar years, the cohort life table reflects

the mortality experience of an actual cohort from birth until no

lives remain in the group. To prepare just a single complete

cohort life table requires data over many years. It is usually

not feasible to construct cohort life tables entirely on the basis

of observed data for real cohorts due to data unavailability or

incompleteness (1). For example, a life table representation of

the mortality experience of a cohort of persons born in 1970

would require the use of data projection techniques to estimate

deaths into the future (2,3).

Unlike the cohort life table, the period life table does not

represent the mortality experience of an actual birth cohort.

Rather, the period life table presents what would happen to a

hypothetical cohort if it experienced throughout its entire life the

mortality conditions of a particular period in time. For example,

a period life table for 2017 assumes a hypothetical cohort that

is subject throughout its lifetime to the age-specific death rates

prevailing for the actual population in 2017. The period life table

may thus be characterized as rendering a snapshot of current

mortality experience and shows the long-range implications of

a set of age-specific death rates that prevailed in a given year. In

this report, the term life table refers only to the period life table

and not to the cohort life table.

Life tables can be classified in two ways according to the

length of the age interval in which data are presented. A complete

life table contains data for every single year of age. An abridged

life table typically contains data by 5- or 10-year age intervals.

A complete life table can easily be aggregated into 5- or 10-year

age groups (see Technical Notes for instructions). Other than the

decennial life tables, U.S. life tables based on data before 1997

are abridged life tables constructed by reference to a standard

table (4). This report presents complete period life tables by

race, Hispanic origin, and sex.

Data and Methods

The data used to prepare the U.S. life tables for 2017

are final numbers of deaths for the year 2017; July 1, 2017

population estimates based on the 2010 decennial census;

and age-specific death and population counts for Medicare

beneficiaries aged 66¨C99 for the year 2017 from the Centers for

Medicare & Medicaid Services. Data from the Medicare program

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

National Center for Health Statistics

National Vital Statistics System

NCHS reports can be downloaded from: .

2

National Vital Statistics Reports, Vol. 68, No. 7, June 24, 2019

are used to supplement vital statistics and census data for ages

66 and over. The U.S. life tables by Hispanic origin are based

on death rates that have been adjusted for race and ethnicity

misclassification on death certificates using classification ratios

(or correction factors) generated from an updated evaluation of

race and Hispanic-origin misclassification on death certificates

in the United States (5). (See Technical Notes for a detailed

description of the data sets and methodology used to estimate

Hispanic-origin life tables.)

Expectation of life

The most frequently used life table statistic is life expectancy

(ex ), which is the average number of years of life remaining for

persons who have attained a given age (x ). Life expectancy and

other life table values for each age in 2017 are shown for the total

population by race, Hispanic origin, and sex in Tables 1¨C18. Life

expectancy is summarized by age, race, Hispanic origin, and sex

in Table A.

Life expectancy at birth (e0 ) for 2017 for the total population

was 78.6 years. This represents the average number of years

that the members of the hypothetical life table cohort can expect

to live at the time of birth (Table A).

Survivors to specified ages

Another way of assessing the longevity of the period life

table cohort is by determining the proportion that survives

to specified ages. The lx column of the life table provides the

data for computing this proportion. Table B summarizes the

number of survivors by age, race, Hispanic origin, and sex. To

illustrate, 57,839 persons out of the original 2017 hypothetical

life table cohort of 100,000 (or 57.8%) were alive at exact age

80. In other words, the probability that a person will survive

from birth to age 80, given 2017 age-specific mortality rates, is

57.8%. Probabilities of survival can be calculated at any age by

simply dividing the number of survivors at the terminal age by

the number at the beginning age. For example, to calculate the

probability of surviving from age 20 to age 85, one would divide

the number of survivors at age 85 (42,382) by the number of

survivors at age 20 (98,937), which results in a 42.8% probability

of survival.

Explanation of life table columns

Column 1. Age (between x and x + 1)¡ªShows the age

interval between the two exact ages indicated. For instance,

¡°20¨C21¡± means the 1-year interval between the 20th and 21st

birthdays.

Column 2. Probability of dying (qx )¡ªShows the probability

of dying between ages x and x + 1. For example, for males in the

age interval 20¨C21 years, the probability of dying is 0.001147

(Table 2). This column forms the basis of the life table; all

subsequent columns are derived from it.

Column 3. Number surviving (lx )¡ªShows the number of

persons from the original hypothetical cohort of 100,000 live

births who survive to the beginning of each age interval. The lx

values are computed from the qx values, which are successively

applied to the remainder of the original 100,000 persons still

alive at the beginning of each age interval. Thus, out of 100,000

female babies born alive, 99,477 will complete the first year of

life and enter the second; 99,341 will reach age 10; 99,134 will

reach age 20; and 49,264 will live to age 85 (Table 3).

Column 4. Number dying (dx )¡ªShows the number dying

in each successive age interval out of the original 100,000 live

births. For example, out of 100,000 males born alive, 630 will

die in the first year of life; 113 between ages 20 and 21; and 971

after reaching age 100 (Table 2). Each figure in column 4 is the

difference between the two successive figures in column 3.

Column 5. Person-years lived (Lx )¡ªShows the number of

person-years lived by the hypothetical life table cohort within

an age interval x to x + 1. Each figure in column 5 represents the

total time (in years) lived between two indicated birthdays by

all those reaching the earlier birthday. Thus, the figure 98,692

for males in the age interval 20¨C21 is the total number of years

lived between the 20th and 21st birthdays by the 98,749 males

(column 3) who reached their 20th birthday out of 100,000

males born alive (Table 2).

Column 6. Total number of person-years lived (Tx )¡ªShows

the total number of person-years that would be lived after the

beginning of the age interval x to x + 1 by the hypothetical life

table cohort. For example, 5,626,672 is the total number of

years lived after reaching age 20 by the 98,749 males reaching

that age (Table 2).

Column 7. Expectation of life (ex )¡ªThe expectation of life

at any given age is the average number of years remaining to

be lived by those surviving to that age, based on a given set

of age-specific rates of dying. It is derived by dividing the total

person-years that would be lived beyond age x by the number

of persons who survived to that age interval (Tx / lx ). Thus, the

average remaining lifetime for males who reach age 20 is 57.0

years (5,626,672 divided by 98,749) (Table 2).

Results

Life expectancy in the United States

Tables 1¨C18 show complete life tables for 2017 by race

(white and black), Hispanic origin, and sex. Table A summarizes

life expectancy by age, race, Hispanic origin, and sex. Life

expectancy at birth for 2017 represents the average number of

years that a group of infants would live if they were to experience

throughout life the age-specific death rates prevailing in 2017. In

2017, life expectancy at birth was 78.6 years, decreasing by 0.1

year from 78.7 in 2016.

Changes in mortality by age and cause of death can have

a major effect on life expectancy. Life expectancy between

2016 and 2017 decreased due to increases in mortality from

unintentional injuries, suicide, diabetes, Alzheimer disease,

Influenza and pneumonia, and decreases in mortality from cancer,

heart disease, Viral hepatitis, HIV disease, and septicemia. For

males, life expectancy decreased due to increases in mortality

from unintentional injuries, suicide, diabetes, hypertension,

Table A. Expectation of life, by age, race, Hispanic origin, race for the non-Hispanic population, and sex: United States, 2017

All races and origins

White

Hispanic1

Black

Non-Hispanic white1

Non-Hispanic black1

Age (years)

Total

Male

Female

Total

Male

Female

Total

Male

Female

Total

Male

Female

Total

Male

Female

Total

Male

Female

0. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

10. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

15. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

20. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

25. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

35. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

40. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

45. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

50. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

55. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

60. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

65. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

70. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

75. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

80. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

85. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

90. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

95. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

100. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

78.6

78.1

74.1

69.2

64.2

59.4

54.7

50.0

45.3

40.7

36.1

31.6

27.4

23.3

19.4

15.7

12.3

9.2

6.6

4.5

3.1

2.2

76.1

75.6

71.7

66.7

61.8

57.0

52.4

47.8

43.2

38.7

34.2

29.8

25.6

21.7

18.0

14.5

11.3

8.4

5.9

4.1

2.8

2.0

81.1

80.5

76.6

71.6

66.7

61.8

56.9

52.1

47.3

42.6

37.9

33.4

28.9

24.7

20.6

16.7

13.0

9.8

7.0

4.8

3.2

2.2

78.8

78.2

74.2

69.3

64.3

59.5

54.7

50.0

45.4

40.8

36.2

31.7

27.4

23.3

19.4

15.6

12.2

9.1

6.5

4.5

3.0

2.1

76.4

75.8

71.8

66.9

61.9

57.1

52.5

47.9

43.4

38.8

34.3

29.9

25.7

21.8

18.1

14.5

11.2

8.3

5.9

4.0

2.7

1.9

81.2

80.6

76.7

71.7

66.7

61.8

57.0

52.2

47.4

42.7

38.0

33.4

29.0

24.7

20.6

16.6

13.0

9.7

6.9

4.7

3.2

2.2

75.3

75.1

71.2

66.3

61.4

56.6

51.9

47.4

42.8

38.3

33.8

29.5

25.5

21.7

18.2

15.0

11.9

9.2

6.9

5.1

3.7

2.7

71.9

71.8

67.9

63.0

58.1

53.4

48.9

44.5

40.0

35.7

31.3

27.1

23.2

19.6

16.4

13.4

10.7

8.2

6.1

4.5

3.3

2.5

78.5

78.2

74.3

69.4

64.4

59.5

54.7

49.9

45.2

40.6

36.0

31.6

27.4

23.4

19.7

16.1

12.8

9.8

7.3

5.2

3.7

2.7

81.8

81.2

77.3

72.3

67.4

62.5

57.7

53.0

48.2

43.5

38.8

34.2

29.8

25.5

21.4

17.5

13.8

10.5

7.6

5.3

3.6

2.6

79.1

78.5

74.6

69.6

64.7

59.9

55.2

50.5

45.8

41.2

36.6

32.1

27.7

23.6

19.7

16.0

12.6

9.4

6.7

4.6

3.2

2.2

84.3

83.7

79.8

74.8

69.8

64.9

60.1

55.2

50.3

45.5

40.7

36.0

31.4

27.0

22.7

18.6

14.7

11.1

8.0

5.5

3.7

2.6

78.5

77.9

74.0

69.0

64.0

59.2

54.5

49.8

45.2

40.6

36.0

31.6

27.3

23.2

19.3

15.6

12.2

9.1

6.5

4.5

3.0

2.1

76.1

75.5

71.6

66.6

61.7

56.9

52.2

47.7

43.2

38.6

34.2

29.8

25.6

21.7

18.0

14.5

11.2

8.3

5.9

4.0

2.7

1.9

81.0

80.3

76.4

71.4

66.4

61.5

56.7

51.9

47.2

42.5

37.8

33.3

28.8

24.6

20.5

16.6

12.9

9.7

6.9

4.7

3.2

2.2

74.9

74.7

70.8

65.9

61.0

56.2

51.6

47.0

42.5

38.0

33.6

29.3

25.2

21.5

18.1

14.9

11.9

9.2

6.9

5.0

3.6

2.7

71.5

71.4

67.5

62.5

57.6

53.0

48.5

44.1

39.7

35.3

31.0

26.9

23.0

19.4

16.2

13.3

10.6

8.1

6.1

4.5

3.3

2.5

78.1

77.9

74.0

69.0

64.1

59.2

54.4

49.6

44.9

40.3

35.8

31.4

27.2

23.3

19.5

16.0

12.7

9.8

7.3

5.2

3.7

2.7

1

Life tables by Hispanic origin are based on death rates that have been adjusted for race and ethnicity misclassification on death certificates. Updated classification ratios were applied; see Technical Notes.

National Vital Statistics Reports, Vol. 68, No. 7, June 24, 2019

SOURCE: NCHS, National Vital Statistics System, Mortality.

3

Age (years)

Total

0. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100,000

1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99,422

5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99,326

10. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99,268

15. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99,191

20. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98,937

25. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98,466

30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97,872

35. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97,163

40. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96,321

45. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95,275

50. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93,797

55. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91,538

60. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88,226

65. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83,696

70. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77,697

75. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69,418

80. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57,839

85. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42,382

90. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24,560

95. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

9,361

100. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1,894

White

Hispanic1

Black

Non-Hispanic white1

Non-Hispanic black1

Male

Female

Total

Male

Female

Total

Male

Female

Total

Male

Female

Total

Male

Female

Total

Male

Female

100,000

99,370

99,261

99,199

99,107

98,749

98,071

97,235

96,284

95,196

93,903

92,105

89,365

85,344

79,838

72,785

63,524

51,095

35,439

18,687

6,070

971

100,000

99,477

99,393

99,341

99,280

99,134

98,883

98,543

98,083

97,493

96,697

95,543

93,768

91,162

87,596

82,637

75,344

64,591

49,264

30,222

12,383

2,697

100,000

99,516

99,429

99,377

99,304

99,066

98,613

98,025

97,312

96,477

95,447

93,997

91,783

88,554

84,141

78,242

69,933

58,237

42,559

24,480

9,125

1,761

100,000

99,473

99,373

99,316

99,230

98,906

98,262

97,439

96,493

95,422

94,151

92,391

89,701

85,778

80,425

73,517

64,248

51,682

35,762

18,708

5,903

886

100,000

99,562

99,489

99,440

99,382

99,235

98,987

98,646

98,180

97,593

96,814

95,687

93,962

91,438

87,973

83,087

75,748

64,899

49,376

30,103

12,097

2,524

100,000

98,920

98,771

98,686

98,578

98,208

97,555

96,763

95,837

94,682

93,210

91,184

88,154

83,613

77,385

69,560

60,137

48,332

34,458

20,106

8,620

2,390

100,000

98,812

98,653

98,560

98,425

97,853

96,871

95,718

94,433

92,897

91,066

88,591

84,962

79,494

71,895

62,551

51,909

39,528

26,042

13,662

5,016

1,128

100,000

99,033

98,894

98,815

98,736

98,576

98,267

97,843

97,263

96,464

95,322

93,711

91,241

87,562

82,583

76,127

67,819

56,516

42,199

26,129

11,754

3,289

100,000

99,491

99,415

99,366

99,305

99,091

98,727

98,284

97,799

97,221

96,506

95,438

93,759

91,332

87,731

82,920

76,164

66,348

52,244

34,151

15,837

4,304

100,000

99,461

99,379

99,328

99,256

98,970

98,447

97,800

97,133

96,341

95,387

94,048

91,914

88,832

84,329

78,413

70,358

59,261

44,188

26,219

10,234

2,127

100,000

99,523

99,454

99,408

99,359

99,221

99,032

98,814

98,532

98,184

97,717

96,936

95,738

93,974

91,241

87,438

81,818

73,047

59,497

40,715

19,864

5,582

100,000

99,533

99,444

99,392

99,318

99,080

98,613

97,983

97,204

96,298

95,181

93,649

91,353

88,032

83,559

77,632

69,308

57,607

42,000

24,097

8,964

1,730

100,000

99,483

99,371

99,310

99,216

98,892

98,234

97,360

96,327

95,173

93,808

91,968

89,207

85,203

79,807

72,896

63,649

51,115

35,287

18,400

5,791

869

100,000

99,585

99,520

99,478

99,425

99,278

99,013

98,639

98,122

97,473

96,614

95,402

93,581

90,956

87,420

82,492

75,113

64,231

48,761

29,665

11,901

2,483

100,000

98,911

98,748

98,654

98,536

98,134

97,430

96,610

95,641

94,407

92,840

90,725

87,588

82,936

76,584

68,613

59,109

47,325

33,600

19,644

8,353

2,255

100,000

98,812

98,653

98,560

98,423

97,803

96,746

95,560

94,229

92,586

90,636

88,051

84,296

78,732

71,027

61,536

50,854

38,543

25,258

13,175

4,820

1,086

100,000

99,013

98,866

98,783

98,700

98,525

98,189

97,742

97,125

96,271

95,055

93,374

90,812

87,013

81,897

75,293

66,870

55,541

41,324

25,499

11,445

3,205

Life tables by Hispanic origin are based on death rates that have been adjusted for race and ethnicity misclassification on death certificates. Updated classification ratios were applied; see Technical Notes.

1

SOURCE: NCHS, National Vital Statistics System, Mortality.

National Vital Statistics Reports, Vol. 68, No. 7, June 24, 2019

All races and origins

4

Table B. Number of survivors out of 100,000 born alive, by age, race, Hispanic origin, race for non-Hispanic population, and sex: United States, 2017

National Vital Statistics Reports, Vol. 68, No. 7, June 24, 2019

and decreases in mortality from cancer, septicemia, Chronic

lower respiratory diseases, Viral hepatitis, and HIV disease.

Life expectancy did not change for females between 2016 and

2017 due to decreases in mortality from cancer, heart disease,

perinatal conditions, congenital malformations, Viral hepatitis,

and increases in mortality from unintentional injuries, Alzheimer

disease, Influenza and pneumonia, Chronic lower respiratory

diseases, and Nutritional deficiencies (6).

The difference in life expectancy between the sexes was 5.0

years in 2017, increasing by 0.1 year from the difference in 2016.

From 1900 to 1975, the difference in life expectancy between

the sexes increased from 2.0 years to 7.8 years (Table 19). The

increasing gap during these years is attributed to increases in

male mortality due to ischemic heart disease and lung cancer,

both of which increased largely as the result of men¡¯s early and

widespread adoption of cigarette smoking (7,8). Between 1979

and 2010, the difference in life expectancy between the sexes

narrowed from 7.8 years to 4.8 years and remained at this level

through 2015. It has increased every year since 2015 (Table 19).

The 2017 life table may be used to compare life expectancy at

any age from birth onward. On the basis of mortality experienced

in 2017, a person aged 65 could expect to live an average of 19.4

more years, for a total of 84.4 years; a person aged 85 could

expect to live an additional 6.6 years, for a total of 91.6 years;

and a person aged 100 could expect to live an additional 2.2

years, on average (Table A).

Life expectancy by race

Between 2016 and 2017, life expectancy decreased by 0.1

year for the white population (78.9 to 78.8) and did not change

for the black population (75.3) (Table 19). The difference in life

expectancy between the white and black populations was 3.5

years in 2017, 0.1 year above the historically record low level of

3.4 attained in 2015. The white¨Cblack difference in life expectancy

narrowed from 14.6 years in 1900 to 5.7 years in 1982, but

increased to 7.1 years in 1993 before beginning to decline again

in 1994 (Table 19). The increase in the gap from 1983 to 1993

was largely the result of increases in mortality among the black

male population due to HIV infection and homicide (8).

Among the four race¨Csex groups (Figure 1), white females

continued to have the highest life expectancy at birth (81.2),

followed by black females (78.5), white males (76.4), and black

males (71.9). Between 2016 and 2017, life expectancy decreased

by 0.1 year for black males (72.0 to 71.9) and increased by 0.2

year for black females (78.3 to 78.5). Black males experienced a

decline in life expectancy every year for 1984¨C1989 (8), followed

by annual increases in 1990¨C1992 and 1994¨C2012. Between

2016 and 2017, life expectancy declined by 0.1 year for white

females (81.3 to 81.2). It remained unchanged for white males

(76.4). Overall, gains in life expectancy between 1980 and 2017

were 8.1 years for black males, 6.0 years for black females, 5.7

years for white males, and 3.1 years for white females (Table 19).

85

80

White female

Age (years)

75

Black female

White male

70

Black male

65

60

0

1970

1974

1978

1982

1986

1990

5

1994

1998

2002

SOURCE: NCHS, National Vital Statistics System, Mortality.

Figure 1. Life expectancy at birth, by race and sex: United States, 1970¨C2017

2006

2010

2014

2017

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