Concerns have been raised by some in recent years that the long-term secular trend to increasing life expectancy in the U.S. population might level out or even reverse in the 21st Century. The latest data seem to show that this concern was unfounded.

In 2006, the most recent year for which final data are available, a total of 2,426,264 resident deaths were registered in the United States -- 21,753 fewer deaths than in 2005. The crude death rate for 2006, 810.4 deaths per 100,000 population, was 1.9 percent less than the 2005 rate (825.9). The age-adjusted death rate in 2006 was 776.5 deaths per 100,000 U.S. standard population, a record low that was 2.8 percent lower than the 2005 rate of 798.8.

More disturbing, however, differences in mortality between men and women increased slightly between 2005 and 2006. The age-adjusted death rate for men was 40.6 percent greater than that for women (up from 40.4 percent greater in 2005) while the difference between male and female life expectancy was 5.1 years in 2006, a slight increase from the 2005 gap of 5.0.

Differences in mortality between the African-American and White populations also persisted. The age-adjusted death rate was 1.3 times greater, the infant mortality rate 2.4 times greater, and maternal mortality rate 3.4 times greater for the African-American population than for the White population. Life expectancy for the White population exceeded that for the African-American population by 5.0 years.

Results for life expectancy of those who have reached their senior years were more positive. From 2000 to 2006 life expectancy at age 65 years increased by 0.9 year for the overall U.S. population. The data show gradual increases in the number of years of life expectancy for Whites, African-Americans, men, and women, with the increases ranging from 0.7 years for White women to 1.1 years for African-American women. The increase for both White men and African-American men was 1.0 year.

SOURCE: Heron, M.P., Hoyert, D.L., Murphy, S.L., Xu, J.Q., Kochanek, K.D., and Tejada-Vera, B. (2009). Deaths: final data for 2006. National Vital Statistics Reports. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. Available at http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr57/nvsr57_14.pdf