Death rates fall but still higher than average

WHILE the mortality rate from heart disease in Ireland is less than half of what it was more than 25 years ago, Irish death rates generally are higher than the average for developed countries, a study has found.

Although the difference in life expectancy is relatively small — at around one and a half years — approximately 1.100 fewer people aged under 75 would die in Ireland every year if the country’s death rate matched the international average.

In particular, it found that death rates for women aged 65 to 85 and men aged 75 to 85 are more than 25% higher in Ireland than the average across 19 countries.