NEW DELHI: The life expectancy of females in India has registered a healthy improvement by 0.4 years from 70.7 years in 2014-18 to 71.1 years in 2015-19, according to the latest report by the Registrar General and Census Commissioner.
Significantly, according to the report, 'SRS (Sample Registration System) Based Abridged Life Tables, 2015-19', female life expectancy is higher than that of male (68.4 years). The increase in life expectancy for males is 0.2 years.
The Registrar General and Census Commissioner's office issues 'abridged life tables' annually. A life table summarises the mortality experience of a population during the period of study.
The latest report contains data by sex and residence nationally and for bigger states and Union Territories (with population of 10 million and above. It is presented up to the age group of 85+ to "appropriately reflect the mortality pattern and to facilitate comparison with life tables released by other countries and United Nations.
Pointing out that life expectancy at birth for India has "undergone a significant change" from 49.7 in 1970-75 to 69.7 in 2015-19 -- an increase of 20 years in the last four decades -- the report says that life expectancy at birth for females was 49.7 in 1970-75 compared to 50.5 for males in the same period. Life expectancy at birth measures the average number of years a person is expected to live under prevailing mortality conditions.
Female life expectancy at age one year has also improved significantly for the period 2015-19. Female life expectancy at age one year, after surviving through the first year of life, is 72.9 years, which is three years more than for males (69.9).
"Almost all the States/UTs have recorded a higher life expectancy for females in 2015-19 both across the rural and urban areas, except for Bihar and Jharkhand...Even at age 70 years, this difference is favourable towards females by about one year," according to the report.
Kerala has recorded the highest life expectancy at birth for males and females in rural areas, while Jammu & Kashmir has recorded the highest for males in urban areas and Himachal Pradesh has recorded the highest life expectancy for females in urban areas.
The expectancy of life at age one in rural areas for females has surpassed that of males from 1987-91. Since then, the gap between the life expectancy of male and female in rural areas has been growing in favour of females from 0.2 years in 1987-91 to 3 years in 2015-19. In urban areas, the gap in the life expectancy of males and females has increased from 0.4 years in 1970-75 to 2.7 years in 2015-19, according to the report.
In 2015-19, the highest life expectancy at birth has been estimated for NCT of Delhi with 75.9 years, while Chhattisgarh with 65.3 years, has the lowest life expectancy at birth. The expectation of life is the highest in Delhi at 74.3 years for males and in Kerala (78.0 years) for females, while it is the lowest in Chhattisgarh (63.7 years) for males and Uttar Pradesh (66.2 years) for females.
The NCT of Delhi has recorded the highest expectation of life for age till 50 years, while Punjab has the highest life expectancy for ages between 70 to 80 years. At the age of 85+ years, Uttarakhand scores the highest life expectancy. The minimum expectancy of life is in Chhattisgarh till age 75 years, beyond which Bihar has the lowest life expectancy.