Life expectancy for Singapore population declines due to COVID-19

SINGAPORE: Declines in life expectancy for the Singapore resident population were observed from 2020 to 2022, arising from higher mortality rates due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nonetheless, life expectancy improved over the last decade.

This is according to the "Complete Life Tables for Singapore Resident Population, 2021-2022" report released by the Singapore Department of Statistics (DOS) today.

In 2022, the report said life expectancy at birth for Singapore residents was 83.0 years, an improvement of 0.9 years over the last decade, from 82.1 years in 2012.

"However, this was a decline of 0.2 years from 83.2 years in 2021. Compared with the pre-COVID life expectancy of 83.7 years in 2019, life expectancy at birth decreased by 0.7 years.

"Similarly, life expectancy at age 65 years increased by 0.5 years over the last 10 years to 20.7 years in 2022, although it declined 0.2 years from 20.9 years in 2021," it said.

DOS noted that the life expectancy data for 2020 to 2022 "assumes that the higher mortality rates due to the pandemic apply throughout a lifetime."

Therefore, DOS said it is important to note that they may not be representative of the number of years individuals can expect to live, if mortality rates were to return to pre-pandemic levels.

The report also showed that improvements in life expectancy over the last decade observed for both males and females.

"The male and female life expectancies at birth were 80.7 years and 85.2 years respectively in 2022. Compared with 2012, both male and female life expectancies at birth improved by 0.9 years over the last decade.

"Compared with the year before, life expectancy at birth for males in 2022 declined 0.1 years from 80.8 years in 2021. For females, it declined 0.3 years from 85.5 years over the same period," it said.

Similar trends were observed for both male and female life expectancies at age 65 years, it added.

The report on "Complete Life Tables for Singapore Resident Population, 2021-2022" are available on the Singstat Website at https://www.singstat.gov.sg/publications/population/complete-life-table.

-- BERNAMA