Is It Possible To Calculate The Life Expectancy Of People?

Can you calculate life expectancy? In this article we will give you the answer.

Yes, it’s true:  a person’s life expectancy can be calculated. There is actually a formula that can do it.

By calculating life expectancy  , you can find out how old a person is likely to get. In order to determine this as accurately as possible, certain factors must be taken into account. General health, educational background, and other social factors play a role. The country or region in which a person lives is also important.

This data can be used, for example, to determine the ideal retirement age. You can also compare the ages of people from different countries. This gives demographers an overview of the world population.

Mathematical calculation of life expectancy

Certain tables contain information related to gender, age, and mortality rates, and the likely age of a particular population group.

To calculate this, you start with real data on birth and death rates in a specified region. These data are sorted by gender and age. The probability of death is calculated using a mathematical formula. The life expectancy can then be read from the table at hand.

However, the calculation requires constantly updated data on various variables in the mathematical equation. Because a calculation is only possible with exact numbers.

Life expectancy at birth is a common piece of information. It is calculated using these three factors:

• gender
• Age
• region

This value is usually calculated over a period of three years, since a table of life expectancies is directly dependent on fluctuations in death rates.

In addition, it is not advisable to make calculations for units that are too small, for example individual cities or villages. Because the deviations of individual years would have too great an effect on the entire calculation.

Is your generation hypothetical or real?

The calculations serve different purposes. That depends on whether the calculations are hypothetical or real. 

In a hypothetical calculation, the information on life expectancy is obtained from a previous generation with similar conditions. This is how you can make approximate predictions for the future.

A real calculation, on the other hand, is based on the actual data of a certain generation. The average age can be calculated using the age information for each individual in this group.

Mathematical formula

The mathematical calculation begins by ascertaining how many years a generation has lived in total since a certain age (x).

In general, birth is assumed when x = 0. Then you calculate the average age that will be reached from this age on.

The formula used is: L = Gx / Lx

• Gx is the total number of years a person has lived since age x.
• Lx are the people who reach age x.

In addition, you have to add another column that shows the total number of years that have been lived for each age (Gx). It is usually derived from a preceding column that represents the number of years within a time span (Lx). Adding this number to x gives the number of years a person is likely to live from now on.

Survival dates

In contrast to the calculation described above, in which the formula comes from an abbreviated table, the actual survival data is calculated using quintiles. The mortality in the first year is compared with that of the four following years. At the end there is an open interval.

Life expectancies in comparison

Calculating the life expectancy of people has many advantages and can be useful in a wide variety of areas of life. The three most important factors are the place and date of birth and gender.

In certain databases you can compare the life expectancies of different countries.

You can also find out if you live in a country where people are getting very old or dying young.

However, keep in mind that all of these values ​​are statistical calculations that cannot make any statement for the individual person. But basically it’s true: you can calculate a person’s life expectancy.