Irish living 2.5 years more than in 2005

Life expectancy in Ireland has increased by two and a half years since 2005. Irish male life expectancy has been consistently higher than the EU average for the last decade. Life expectancy is now 79.6 years for men and 83.4 for women.

According to the 10th edition of ‘Health in Ireland: Key Trends’, published yesterday by the Department of Health, much of this increase is due to reductions in circulatory system diseases and cancer.

Cigarette consumption has declined over the past decade, while alcohol consumption increased slightly in 2016.

There have also been significant improvements in the health and well-being of the population. However, the report for 2017 highlights ongoing challenges in accessing timely health care.

‘Health in Ireland: Key Trends’ also reveals that Ireland is now beginning to catch up with other European countries in terms of population ageing. The population of those aged 65 years and over has increased by 34.3% since 2008, and has been increasing at a faster rate than that of our EU neighbours. The numbers of people in this age group is expected to almost double in the next 20 years.

The number of live births has been falling year-on-year since 2009, and in 2016 the number of registered births was 63,897. Despite these reductions, the fertility rate in Ireland remains the second-highest in the EU, behind France. The population estimate for 2017 is 4,792,490, an increase of 1.1% on Census 2016.

Welcoming the report, Health Minister Simon Harris said: “ ‘Health in Ireland: Key Trends’ gives us the opportunity to assess the performance of the Irish health system, and highlights where things are going well, and where we need to improve. It also shows the importance of good-quality data and evidence to health professionals and policymakers alike, in providing a high-quality health service for all our population.

“I’m particularly struck by the continued reduction in mortality rates from main causes of death, such as heart disease, stroke, and cancer. The contribution of modern health services to the improvements in health outcomes has been significant.

“However, I also acknowledge that we still have issues of access to our health services that need to be addressed to lower the time patients can expect to wait for treatment.”

He said we are also living longer.

“The largest proportional increases in the population in Ireland will be in the category of those aged 85 years and older,” he said. “The number of people aged 65 and over will grow from one-fifth to over one-third of the working population over the next two decades, which will have implications for how we fund our health services.”

“In order to be able to provide high-quality services, as our population continues to age, we need to have the ability to assess the performance of the health system in a way that ensures that valuable and finite health-care resources are used in the most efficient way possible.”

Mr Harris added that the main aim of any performance assessment should be to improve the health status of the population, with people continuing to live longer, healthier lives.