Santo Domingo.— Life expectancy in the Dominican Republic has increased significantly over the last seven decades, but the progress has not closed the gap between men and women. Data from the National Statistics Office (ONE) show that Dominican women live, on average, more than six years longer than men, a difference largely associated with higher male mortality due to accidents, violence, and other preventable causes.
In 2022, life expectancy at birth reached 77.90 years for women and 71.53 years for men, a difference of 6.37 years. The overall indicator stood at 74.74 years.
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Inequality is not recent. In 1950, women had a life expectancy of 45.22 years, compared to 42.91 years for men. By the year 2000, the gap had widened to more than four years: 71.06 years for women and 66.79 for men.
While the longevity of the population has increased, male mortality continues to be concentrated in young and adult ages, particularly due to external causes.
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Accidents and violence, among the main causes
Men account for more than 80% of deaths from external causes in the country, a category that includes traffic accidents, homicides, and suicides.
Road accidents constitute a significant part of this mortality. The Dominican Republic closed 2024 with 1,961 deaths in traffic accidents, the deadliest year on the roads since 2010. Of the total, about 87% of the victims were men.
Violence also shows a marked difference by sex. In 2023, the homicide rate among men reached 20.64 per 100,000 inhabitants, while suicides also maintain a strong male concentration: nearly 87% of the victims are male.
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Between 2019 and 2023, 20,760 accidental and violent deaths were recorded, and traffic accidents accounted for 42% of those deaths in 2023.
This pattern contributes to a significant proportion of men dying before reaching advanced ages, reducing their average life expectancy compared to women.
Infant mortality drove the great demographic leap
The country, however, has undergone a profound transformation in its survival indicators.
In 1950, life expectancy was barely around 44 years. Seven decades later, it had increased to 74.74 years. One of the main factors behind this progress was the reduction in infant mortality.
While in 1950 approximately 159 children under one year of age died for every 1,000 live births, in 2022 the rate dropped to about 18 per 1,000. ONE projections estimate that by 2050 it could fall to 13.5 deaths per 1,000 live births.
The COVID-19 pandemic produced a temporary interruption of this trend. Life expectancy fell from 73.77 years in 2019 to 73.29 in 2020, before beginning its recovery once again.
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Women maintain an advantage in old age
The difference between men and women does not disappear upon reaching old age. On the contrary, data show that women maintain an advantage in the years they can expect to live after 60.
In 1950, a 60-year-old man could expect to live about 13 additional years, while a woman of the same age had a life expectancy of nearly 14 years.
By 2022, the expectation had increased to 20.26 additional years for men and 23.63 for women.
The behavior confirms the progress of the Dominican population aging and the increase in the number of people reaching advanced ages.
The gap could persist throughout the century
Demographic projections indicate that the Dominican population will continue to gain years of life, although the gap between men and women would not disappear.
By 2050, the average life expectancy could reach 81.63 years, while by 2099 it would reach 91.47 years.
At the end of the century, projections place male life expectancy at 88.85 years, compared to 93.96 years for women, which would maintain a difference of more than five years.
The ONE Vital Statistics Yearbook recorded 43,032 deaths in 2022: 25,213 were men and 17,795 were women. The difference reflects a persistent demographic reality: although the Dominican Republic has achieved significant progress in longevity, men continue to face a higher risk of premature death.
Reducing deaths from traffic accidents, homicides, and suicides, along with strengthening the prevention and care of other risk factors, thus appears as one of the main challenges to narrowing the mortality gap between the two sexes.
SOURCE: Infobae
