Life expectancy and life tables

Purpose and brief description The life tables (as instantaneous tables) calculated by Statbel indicate how a generation would die out if, throughout its existence, it were exposed to the same mortality conditions per age as in the specified year. In these tables, a distinction is made between the two genders in view of the strong differences observed between men and women with regard to the aforementioned mortality conditions. From the deaths and from the number of individuals per age, which are shown in the tables for each gender separately and for both genders together, the probabilities of deaths can be calculated. The life tables also provide several other functions: the survivors, the deaths (from the table) and the life expectancies. Life expectancy at age x is the arithmetic mean of the ages at death (in the table), taking into account the age x already reached. The key concept of a life table is life expectancy at birth, which corresponds to the average lifetime of a person if, in the course of his life, the generation to which he belongs is exposed to the same mortality conditions as in the table, i.e. if the mortality conditions shown in the table remain constant throughout the life of that person. Statbel calculates two series of tables: the tables based on ages in elapsed years (or projective tables), whose functions are based on the ages determined on 1 January of the considered year, and the tables based on exact ages, whose functions are calculated at each birthday. Population A fictitious generation Periodicity Annually. Release calendar Results available 9 months after the reference period Definitions Age: Age is measured in completed years on 1 January. Nationality (Belgian/foreign): Population covered by the table Region: Region covered by the table Probability of death: Ratio between the deaths observed at a given age and the population of that age on 1 January of the considered year. Metadata Life tables and life expectancy.pdf