Why Do Women Live Longer Than Men

Everywhere in the world women live longer than men - but this was not always the case. The available data from rich countries shows that women didn't live longer than men in the 19th century. What makes women live much longer than men today, and why have these advantages gotten bigger over time? There isn't much evidence and we only have partial solutions. We know there are biological, behavioral and environmental variables which all play a part in women's longevity more than males, it isn't clear what percentage each factor plays in.

We are aware that women are living longer than males, regardless of weight. However this isn't due to the fact that certain biological factors have changed. These are the factors that are changing. Some are well known and relatively straightforward, like the fact that men smoke more often. Some are more complex. For example, there is evidence that in rich countries the female advantage increased in part because infectious diseases used to affect women disproportionately a century ago, so advances in medicine that reduced the long-term health burden from infectious diseases, especially for survivors, ended up raising women's longevity disproportionately.

Everywhere in the world women tend to live longer than men
The first chart below shows life expectancy at birth for men and women. As we can see, all countries are above the diagonal line of parity - it means that in all nations a newborn girl can expect to live for longer than a new boy.1

This chart illustrates that, although there is a women's advantage throughout the world, the differences between countries can be substantial. In Russia women have an average of 10 years more than men; in Bhutan the difference is less than half each year.

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In rich countries the women's advantage in longevity was previously smaller.
Let's now look at how the gender advantage in terms of longevity has changed over time. The next chart plots the male and female lifespans at birth in the US from 1790 to 2014. Two things stand out.

First, there is an upward trend. Men and women living in America are living longer than they used to 100 years ago. This is in line with historical increases in life expectancy everywhere in the world.

Second, the gap is growing: Although the female advantage in life expectancy was once quite small however, it has grown significantly with time.

It is possible to verify that these are applicable to other countries with data by clicking on the "Change country" option on the chart. This includes the UK, France, ابر التخسيس and Sweden.