Complete Life Tables for the Republic of Serbia, 2021-2023

The Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia is publishing the results of the Complete Life Tables for the Republic of Serbia for the period 2021–2023, which were created based on the results of the 2022 Population, Household, and Housing Census and statistical data on the natural population changes during 2021, 2022, and 2023. These tables present the indicators compiled for the total population, by sex and by individual years of age, for the territory of the Republic of Serbia, for the territorial functional units of Serbia – North and Serbia – South, and their constituent regions, as well as at the municipal level.

The most important indicator in life tables is life expectancy or the average lifespan, which provides data on how many more years a person of a certain age is expected to live, if mortality remains unchanged, i.e., at the levels observed in the period for which the tables were compiled. According to the latest results of the Complete life tables for the period 2021–2023, the life expectancy of newborn men and women in the Republic of Serbia is 72.30 and 77.49 years, respectively. Compared to the 2010–2012 period, there was an increase of 0.3 years for men and 0.4 years for women, with the difference in average life expectancy between men and women remaining at 5.2 years in favor of women. The expected increase in average life expectancy of about two years, which was achieved in the intercensus period from 2002 to 2011, was not repeated due to the significant impact of the coronavirus pandemic, especially in 2021, which falls within the three-year interval around the 2022 census. In that year, excess mortality, compared to the average number of deaths from 2016 to 2019, was over 34%.

 

 

	Period of the tables	Sex
		Male	Female
Average life expectancy of newborns	1952–1954	58,81	61,13
	1960–1962	64,54	67,25
	1970–1972	67,12	71,52
	1980–1982	68,77	73,74
	1990–1992	68,45	74,51
	2001–2003	69,60	74,95
	2010–2012	71,96	77,12
	2021–2023	72,30	77,49
Increase in years	From 1952–1954. до 1960–1962.	5,73	6,12
	From 1960–1962. до 1970–1972.	2,58	4,27
	From 1970–1972. до 1980–1982.	1,65	2,22
	From 1980–1982. до 1990–1992.	–0,32	0,77
	From 1990–1992. до 2001–2003.	1,15	0,44
	From 2001–2003. до 2010–2012.	2,36	2,17
	From 2010–2012. до 2021–2023.	0,34	0,37

 

When observed at the regional level, the Belgrade region shows the best results in life expectancy (around 76 years), while the life expectancy is shortest in the Vojvodina region (around 74 years). At the area level, the longest life expectancy for newborns is in the Zlatiborska area, being 76.5 years, while the shortest life expectancy is in the Severnobanatska area, with an average of about 72.7 years.

The data on the average life expectancy of individuals aged 65 is very important in the demographic analysis of population aging. The value of life expectancy at this age for men has remained at the level of the previous decade, standing at 13.8 years for the period 2021–2023. A slight increase in this indicator is observed for women – starting from 16.2 years, as recorded in the 2011 tables, the life expectancy for women aged 65 is 16.4 years in 2022. At the district level, the lowest expected life expectancy at age 65 was recorded in the Severnobanatska area – 12.5 years for men and 15.4 years for women. In contrast, men in the Zlatiborska area have the longest expected life expectancy at age 65 (15 years), while the longest life expectancy for women is in the Belgrade area, where it stands at 17.2 years.

A more comprehensive presentation of mortality data for the period 2021–2023, published in the publication „Complete Life Tables for the Republic of Serbia, 2021-2023.“, can also be found in electronic form on the websites: www.stat.gov.rs and www.popis2011.stat.rs.