Latvia

Health systems in transition
Latvia
1.4 Health status
Life expectancy and mortality
As can be seen in Table 1.3, showing mortality and health indicators in Latvia,
for those born in 2005 the average life expectancy is 71.1 years, or 65.4 for men
and 76.6 for women, which is the lowest among the Baltic and Nordic countries.
Trends in life expectancy are similar to those in other eastern European and
former Soviet Union countries. Life expectancy in Latvia is 10 years lower than
the WHO Eur-A average for males, and almost five years lower for females.
However, it may be noted that life expectancy actually took a dip in the early
1990s, when the lowest life expectancy at birth in the 1990s was recorded for
1994, at 60.7 years for men and 72.9 years for women.
Infant mortality remains high by western European standards, although it
has fallen substantially since 1980. Conditions occurring during the perinatal
period caused 47% of all infant deaths in 2004. The under-5 mortality rate per
1000 live births also shows a decreasing trend, falling from 20.6 per 1000 live
births in 1980 to 12.4 in 2000 and 9.3 in 2006.
Table 1.4 shows the main causes of death in Latvia. In 2004, the main
noncommunicable diseases accounted for approximately 78% of all deaths in
Latvia, with 53% of all deaths caused by diseases of the circulatory system
and 17% by cancer. External causes were responsible for approximately 12%
of all deaths and communicable diseases for less than 1%.
Table 1.3
Mortality and health indicators, 1970–2005 (selected years)
1970 1980 1990 2000 2004 2005
Life expectancy at birth, total (years) 69.9 69.2 69.5 70.6 71.3 71.1
Life expectancy at birth, female (years) 74.1 74.2 74.6 76.1 76.3 76.6
Life expectancy at birth, male (years) 65.4 63.8 64.2 64.9 66.1 65.4
SDR all causes, all ages, per 1000, female n/a 9.1 8.9 8.0 7.8 7.7
SDR all causes, all ages, per 1000, male n/a 16.7 16.6 16.2 15.6 16.1
SDR all causes, 0–64, per 1000, female n/a 3.1 2.9 2.8 2.8 2.7
SDR all causes, 0–64, per 1000, male n/a 8.1 8.0 8.0 7.5 8.0
Infant deaths per 1000 live births n/a 15.3 13.7 10.4 9.4 7.8
Under-5 deaths per 1000 live births n/a 20.6 17.6 12.4 11.3 9.5
Source: WHO Regional Office for Europe 2007a.
Notes: SDR: Standardized death rate; n/a: Not available.
Eur-A: WHO precalculated indicator based on data from 27 countries in western, southern, central and
northern Europe.
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