United States Life Tables, 2018

Abstract

Objectives-This report presents complete period life tables for the United States by Hispanic origin, race, and sex, based on age-specific death rates in 2018. Methods-Data used to prepare the 2018 life tables are 2018 final mortality statistics; July 1, 2018 population estimates based on the 2010 decennial census; and 2018 Medicare data for persons aged 66-99. The methodology used to estimate the life tables for the Hispanic population remains unchanged from that developed for the publication of life tables by Hispanic origin for data year 2006. The methodology used to estimate the 2018 life tables for all other groups was first implemented with data year 2008. In 2018, all 50 states and the District of Columbia reported deaths by race based on the 1997 Office of Management and Budget revised standards for the classification of federal data on race and ethnicity. As a result, race-specific life tables for 2018 presented in this report are based on the new standard and show estimates for single-race groups. These estimates are not completely comparable with those of previous years, which are based on bridged-race groups. To show trends and document the impact of changing to the 1997 standards, life expectancy estimates for 2006-2018 are reported for bridged-race categories that were in use starting with data year 2000. Results-In 2018, the overall expectation of life at birth was 78.7 years, increasing from 78.6 in 2017. Between 2017 and 2018, life expectancy at birth increased by 0.1 year for males (76.1 to 76.2) and females (81.1 to 81.2). In 2018, life expectancy at birth was 81.8 for the Hispanic population, 78.6 for the non-Hispanic single-race white population, and 74.7 for the non-Hispanic single-race black population.