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How long is the average Quebecer's life expectancy? New data released

A person holds a Quebec flag during Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day in Montreal, Saturday, June 24, 2023. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press) A person holds a Quebec flag during Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day in Montreal, Saturday, June 24, 2023. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press)
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Life expectancy in Quebec has returned to pre-pandemic levels, according new data from the Quebec Statistics Institute (ISQ).

The data also show that the overdose crisis is not sparing the province, as it’s the main cause of the rise in deaths among 25 to 44 year-olds.

Mortality in the 25-44 age group is set to rise over the 2020-2023 period. Overdose-related deaths in this age group are now higher than motor vehicle accidents and homicide or femicide.

This increase has been gradual, said ISQ demographer Frédéric Fleury-Payeur.

“We've been talking about the overdose crisis for a few years now, especially the opioid-related ones, but it's become more pronounced in recent years,” he said

Fleury-Payeur pointed out that suicide accounts for a larger share of deaths among 25-44 year-olds, but the suicide rate has been declining year on year since the 2000s.

However, the increase in mortality among 25-44 year-olds is less marked in Quebec than in the rest of Canada or the United States.

According to new ISQ data released on Wednesday, the provisional estimate of the number of deaths in Quebec in 2023 is 77,550, representing a drop of 1 per cent compared to 2022.

 

This brings the life expectancy of the Quebec population back to what it was before the COVID-19 pandemic, which turned the data from recent years upside down.

By 2023, women could expect to live to 84.3 and men to 80.7. Life expectancy has stagnated in Quebec since 2016, but remains among the highest in the world.

According to Fleury-Payeur, COVID-19 changed the upward trend in life expectancy that Quebec would have expected to see if it had not been for the pandemic.

“If mortality linked to COVID-19 disappears - and it's quite possible that it will continue to decline over the next few years - will we see a return to an upward trend in life expectancy? It's possible,” says the demographer.

Among the countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Japan has the best life expectancy, at 84.1 years in 2022 (men and women combined).

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- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on May 8, 2024. The Canadian Press health content receives funding through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. The Canadian Press is solely responsible for editorial choices.

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