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's the main reason women live longer than men? And why is this difference growing in the past? We only have a few clues and the evidence is not sufficient to draw a definitive conclusion. While we are aware that there are biological, psychological and environmental factors which play a significant role in the longevity of women over men, we do not know the extent to which each factor plays a role.

In spite of the weight, we know that a large portion of the reason women live longer than men do today however not as previously, is to have to do with the fact that a number of significant non-biological elements have changed. The factors changing are numerous. 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. We can see that all countries are over the diagonal line of parity. This means that a newborn girl from every country could anticipate to live longer than her younger brother.

This chart shows that, although there is a women's advantage across all countries, differences between countries could be significant. In Russia women have a longer life span than men. In Bhutan the difference is less than half one year.

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In countries with high incomes, the longevity advantage for women was previously smaller.
Let's look at how the gender advantage in life expectancy has changed over time. The chart below shows male and افضل شامبو وبلسم female life expectancy at the birth in the US between 1790 until 2014. Two points stand out.

There is an upward trend. Men as well as women in the US live a lot, much longer today than a century ago. This is in line with historical increases in life expectancy everywhere in the world.

The gap is growing: Although the advantage of women in life expectancy was extremely small but it has risen significantly over time.

You can confirm that these are applicable to other countries that have data by selecting the "Change country" option on the chart. This includes the UK, France, and Sweden.