Andalucía region recovers from Covid pandemic and reaches highest level of life expectancy ever

Andalucía in southern Spain has recovered from the Covid pandemic and has surpassed its best records for life expectancy. This has been certified by the indicators of the demographic information system of Andalucía (SIDEMA), which reveal that the region's average life expectancy now stands at 82.5 years, the highest figure since 1975, when Andalusian data began to be specifically measured.

The data, corresponding to the year 2023, places life expectancy for women at 85.1 years and for men at 79.9 years.

These figures represent the recovery trend after the setback suffered during the pandemic years, in which the average survival rate of Andalusians suffered a setback as a result of the increase in mortality due to Covid. At that time, life expectancy fell from 82.1 years in 2019 to 81.4 years in both 2020 and 2021.

The evolution recorded since 1975, when the Andalusian data began to be measured, shows how the standard of living in the region has improved since the end of the dictatorship and the start of democracy. Women in Andalucía now live an average of 9.4 years longer than they did then, and men 10.2 years longer, which points to a trend towards a narrowing of the gender gap, which is still significant at 5.2 years.

By provinces, Granada and Malaga have the highest life expectancy, with an average of 83.0 years when considering the combined data for men and women. They are followed by Cordoba and Jaen with 82.7, Seville with 82.6, Cadiz with 82.0, and Almeria and Huelva with 81.8 years.

The system also measures life expectancy once a person reaches 65 and this indicator also shows the best data in the historical series in Andalucía. The SIDEMA has found that the average for both sexes currently stands at 20.6 years, with 18.7 years in the case of men and 22.4 years in the case of women. In other words, when an Andalusian has reached the age of 65, his or her life expectancy stretches to 83.7 years, and that of a woman in Andalucía to 87.4 years. This has also improved since the pandemic years, when in 2020 life expectancy at the age of 65 fell to 19.7 years and in 2021 to 19.8 years.

The birth rate in 2023 was the lowest on record in Andalucía, falling to just 7.13 per 1,000 inhabitants. In 2000 this rate was 11.04 births and in 1975 it was 20.05 births. By provinces, the highest birth rate is in Almeria with 8.72 births per 1,000 inhabitants, while the lowest is in Malaga with 6.67.

The mortality rate determines the number of deaths per 1,000 inhabitants during a given year. In 2023 this rate stood at 8.68 deaths in Andalucía, returning to more usual values after the increase recorded in 2020 (9.27) and 2021 (9.34), when the highest rates in the historical series since 1975 occurred. According to the 2023 data, the rate was higher in the male population, with 9.01 males dying per 1,000, while in the female population it was 8.28 females.