Irish Life Expectancy Leaps By Three Years

Life expectancy in Ireland has grown by three years, according to an official report.

The Health Status report published by HSE today shows that life expectancy has increased by about three years over the course of a decade, and to a high of 79.2 on average.

According to the HSE document, the improvement brings Ireland from being close to the bottom of the EU league table to above average.

Death rates from coronary heart disease and other circulatory diseases are falling. But the nation is still facing health risks, primarily the twin epidemics of obesity and diabetes, which pose major challenges to the nation's long-term health.

Ireland also has a high consumption rate of alcohol and a "stubbornly" high prevalence of smoking in the adult population.

Commenting on the Health Status report Dr Pat Doorley, HSE National Director for Population Health, said: "Through improved lifestyle choices, strong public health policies and advances in treatment, we can not only continue to improve life expectancy in the future but reduce the period towards the end of life which is spent in ill health.

"Because of our young population compared with the rest of Europe, we have a unique opportunity to bring our younger population to a much better state of health in old age then previous generations experienced."

Irish population numbers are now at their highest level since 1861, influenced by falling death rates, rising births and migration into the country.

Life expectancy is now 76.8 years for males and 81.6 years for females, the highest level ever.

However, the new finding do cause some concern for the future of pension costs as the proportion of persons over 65 is projected to rise dramatically in the coming years.

The report also found that the majority of Irish adults and children rate their own health as good, although almost 40% of adults reported at least one health condition.

Obesity in Ireland is higher than most countries in the EU, and there is a large underestimation of body weight by individuals.

Ireland also has the third highest consumption rate of alcohol in Europe.

(DW/BMcc)