Life expectancy in Brazil rose to 76.6 years in 2024, the highest value ever recorded by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) since the beginning of the historical series, in 1940. The data is part of the Mortality Table released this Friday (28).
The increase confirms the trend of greater longevity in the country and marks the recovery after the losses recorded during the pandemic.
According to the institute, the indicator represents the average number of years that a person can live if current mortality conditions remain. Compared to 2023, when the index was at 76.4 years, there was a new increase. In relation to the 1940s, the jump is even more significant: at that time, a newborn lived, on average, 45.5 years.
The survey places Brazil far from the countries with the greatest longevity in the world, such as Monaco, San Marino, Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea — all above 84 years of life expectancy.
Impact of the pandemic
The IBGE highlights that the growth in life expectancy was only interrupted between 2020 and 2021, a period marked by the direct effects of Covid-19. After reaching 76.2 years in 2019, the index fell to 74.8 the following year and reached 72.8 years in 2021. Since then, the country has gradually returned to its previous level.
Recent developments:
- 2000 — 71.1 years
- 2010 — 74.4 years
- 2019 — 76.2 years
- 2020 — 74.8 years
- 2021 — 72.8 years
- 2022 — 75.4 years
- 2023 — 76.4 years
- 2024 — 76.6 years
Women continue to live longer
The data shows that inequality between the sexes remains high. In 2024, women were expected to live 79.9 years, while men reached 73.3 years — a difference of 6.6 years. This distance was once shorter: in 1940, it was 5.4 years. The biggest gap occurred in 2000, when it reached 7.8 years.
Furthermore, the Mortality Table reveals male excess mortality, which compares the risk of death between men and women. Among young people aged 20 to 24, men are 4.1 times more likely to not reach 25 years of age. The ratio is also high in the 15 to 19 year old age group (3.4 times) and 25 to 29 year old age group (3.5 times).
According to IBGE, this scenario is linked to urbanization and the increase in deaths from external causes. Since the 1980s, factors such as homicides, traffic accidents and other violent incidents have increased the mortality rate of young men.
Effects on Social Security
The Mortality Table guides government calculations, especially the social security factor used in the INSS. The study shows that, in 2024, a 60-year-old person should live, on average, another 22.6 years. Among men, this additional time is 20.8 years; among women, it reaches 24.2 years. In 1940, this same age group only had 13.2 years of life left.
For those who reach 80 years of age, the expectation in 2024 is to live another 9.5 years (women) and 8.3 years (men). The contrast with 1940 is stark: at the time, the additional time was 4.5 years and 4 years, respectively.
Infant mortality shows improvement, but still fluctuates
The survey also updates the infant mortality rate, which measures deaths of children under 1 year old. In 2024, the rate was 12.3 deaths per thousand live births, slightly below the 12.5 recorded in 2023. Although higher than the level of 2000, when the rate was 11.4, the data is much better than the 1940 scenario, when 146.6 babies died per thousand.
Historical series:
- 1940 — 146,6
- 1960 — 117,7
- 1980 — 69,1
- 2000 — 28,1
- 2020 — 11,4
- 2023 — 12,5
- 2024 — 12,3
The IBGE attributes the continuous drop, over the decades, to vaccination policies, expansion of prenatal care, encouragement of breastfeeding, the presence of community health agents and nutrition programs. The institute also cites social advances, such as increased income, greater education and improved basic sanitation.
