Fertility and Mortality

Recent estimates of life expectancy at birth for the period 2000-2011 were provided by nine countries: Bahrain, Egypt, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syrian Arab Republic, United Arab Emirates and Yemen. The latest estimates for the period 2009-2011 indicate that in 2011, Qatar had the highest life expectancy rates for males at 78 years, and the United Arab Emirates had the highest rates for females at 80 years in 2009. As shown in tables 37-38, life expectancy at birth improved for both males and females in most countries in the period 2000-2011. Although estimates for several countries during this same period show inconsistent trends in life expectancy at birth, a slight decline in related rates, which remains unjustified, was noted. Moreover, as expected, estimates of life expectancy for females are higher than for males. The gender difference, however, is lower than expected, amounting to only 1-2 years in few countries with have provided relevant estimates to ESCWA (figure 32 and 33).

Related Subject(s): Population and Demography