Observational studyBMJ open2024
Life expectancy and geographic variation in mortality: an observational comparison study of six high-income Anglophone countries.
Observational study in BMJ open, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
What it found
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed.
- Responsible AI for Predicting Delayed Hospital Discharge Among Older Adults: Development and Evaluation Study for Balancing Accuracy, Equity, and Explainability.JMIR medical informatics · 2026Article
- Growing Inequities in Median Age of Death and Obesity Prevalence Between Australian Major Cities and Remote Areas: A National, Longitudinal, Spatial Analysis.Public health challenges · 2026Article
- How to Fix a Broken Health Care System: Pathways to Maximize Health and Well-being for All.Diabetes care · 2026Review
- National Life Expectancy Lags Behind Benchmark Progress and the Role of Smoking: An International Comparison.European journal of population = Revue europeenne de demographie · 2025Article
- Subnational life expectancy disparities in low and middle-income countries: measurement and determinants.Health economics review · 2025Article
- Spatial spillover effects of area-level socioeconomic factors on life expectancy in Japan: an ecological study.International journal of health geographics · 2025Article
- Salutogenesis for thriving nations: Sense of coherence and longevity across income strata.SSM - population health · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTo compare life expectancy levels and within-country geographic variation in life expectancy across six high-income Anglophone countries between 1990 and 2018.
designDemographic analysis using aggregated mortality data.
settingSix high-income Anglophone countries (USA, UK, Canada, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand), by sex, including an analysis of subnational geographic inequality in mortality within each country. POPULATION: Data come from the Human Mortality Database, the WHO Mortality Database and the vital statistics agencies of six high-income Anglophone countries.
main outcome measuresLife expectancy at birth and age 65; age and cause of death contributions to life expectancy differences between countries; index of dissimilarity for within-country geographic variation in mortality.
resultsAmong six high-income Anglophone countries, Australia is the clear best performer in life expectancy at birth, leading its peer countries by 1.26-3.95 years for women and by 0.97-4.88 years for men in 2018. While Australians experience lower mortality across the age range, most of their life expectancy advantage accrues between ages 45 and 84. Australia performs particularly well in terms of mortality from external causes (including drug- and alcohol-related deaths), screenable/treatable cancers, cardiovascular disease and influenza/pneumonia and other respiratory diseases compared with other countries. Considering life expectancy differences across geographic regions within each country, Australia tends to experience the lowest levels of inequality, while Ireland, New Zealand and the USA tend to experience the highest levels.
conclusionsAustralia has achieved the highest life expectancy among Anglophone countries and tends to rank well in international comparisons of life expectancy overall. It serves as a potential model for lower-performing countries to follow to reduce premature mortality and inequalities in life expectancy.
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