Abridged Life Tables for Japan, 1999

I. Introduction

We hereby present the Japanese abridged life tables for 1999. So far we have constructed two classes of life tables. One is of the complete life tables constructed every five years based on the population census and the final report of the annual vital statistics. The other is of the abridged life tables constructed every year based on the population estimates and the provisional report of the annual vital statistics. The complete life tables for Japan were first constructed for the period 1891-98 and the 18th life tables, which are the latest complete life tables, were prepared for 1995(see Table B). The abridged life tables were first prepared for 1948 (see Table C).

The life expectancies at birth were 42.8 years for males and 44.3 years for females in the 1st life tables (1891-98). They had been under 50 years till just after the World War II. It was in 1946 when the life expectancies at birth surpassed 50 years for females and in 1947 for males. From 1950 to 1952, the life expectancies at birth increased by more than two years annually, and exceeded 60 years for females in 1950 and for males in 1951.

Subsequently, the life expectancies at birth did not increase as much as before, but it still improved steadily and surpassed 65 years for males in 1959, and 70 years for females in 1960. In 1971, it went beyond 70 years for males and 75 years for females. After that, the life expectancy at birth, increasing steadily, exceeded 80 years for females in 1984 and 75 years for males in 1986.

According to the abridged life tables for 1999, the life expectancy at birth is 77.10 years for males and 83.99 years for females.