Deaths, 2012

Girls born in 2012 can expect to live for 83.4 years, while boys can expect to reach 79.4 years. This gives a difference of 4.0 years between the sexes. Men have had a favourable development in life expectancy for some time and this trend continued in 2012 with an increase of 0.4 years for men, while there was no change for women. In 1986, newborn girls could expect to live 6.5 years longer than boys, and this difference sunk to 4.0 years in 2012.

Icelanders and inhabitants in Mediterranean countries live longer

Figures for Europe from Eurostat show that, in 2011, women from France, Spain, Italy and Switzerland stand out with a life expectancy of at least 85 years, with 85.7, 85.4, 85.3 and 85.0 years respectively. Women from Iceland top the list among the Nordic countries, with 84.1 years. Finnish women are second, with 83.8 years. Icelandic men have the highest life expectancy in Europe, with 80.7 years. Men from Switzerland and Italy can also expect to live for at least 80 years, with 80.5 and 80.1 years. In the other Nordic countries, Swedish men can expect to live to 79.9 years, while the life expectancy for Danish and Finnish men is about two years lower. According to UN figures from 2011, women from Japan and Hong Kong have the highest life expectancy in the world, with 86.4 and 85.9 years respectively.

Low infant mortality

The infant mortality rate in Norway in 2012 was 2.5 per 1 000. The average for the last five years has been 2.7. In 1987, the infant mortality rate was three times as high, with 8.4 per 1 000.

The infant mortality rate is usually lower for girls than boys. In 2012, the rate was 2.8 for boys and 2.1 for girls, which compared to 2011 is a decrease from 3.0 for boys and an increase from 1.7 for girls.

Even though the infant mortality rate in Norway is low, it is still not the lowest in the world. Iceland has the lowest with 0.9, followed by Sweden with 2.1 and Japan with 2.3 - all lower than Norway. Estonia, Czech republic and Slovenia also had a low mortality rate, with 2.5, 2.7 and 2.9 respectively.

42 000 died last year

In 2012, 42 000 people died, almost 600 more than the previous year. This is due to an increase in the number of old people. A total of 21 900 women and 20 100 men died. Of these, 150 were children below one year of age; 87 boys and 63 girls.