Why Do Women Live Longer Than Men

Everywhere in the world women live longer than men - but this was not always the case. The available data from rich countries shows that women didn't live longer than men in the 19th century. What's the reason why women live longer than men? Why is this difference growing over time? There is only limited evidence and the evidence isn't strong enough to make an absolute conclusion. While we are aware that there are behavioral, biological as well as environmental factors which all play a part in the longevity of women over males, we aren't sure how much each factor contributes.

It is known that women are living longer than men, regardless of weight. But it is not due to the fact that certain biological or non-biological factors have changed. What are these changing factors? Some are well known and relatively straightforward, اضيق وضعية للجماع like the fact that men smoke more often. Certain are more complicated. For example, there is evidence that in rich countries the female advantage increased in part because infectious diseases used to affect women disproportionately a century ago, so advances in medicine that reduced the long-term health burden from infectious diseases, especially for survivors, ended up raising women's longevity disproportionately.

Everywhere in the world women tend to live longer than men
The first chart below shows life expectancy at birth for men and women. As you can see, all countries are above the diagonal parity line ; this means that in all countries the newborn girl is likely to live for longer than a new boy.1

This graph shows that although there is a women's advantage throughout the world, the differences between countries are often significant. In Russia, women live 10 years longer than males. In Bhutan the gap is only half a year.

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The advantage women had in life expectancy was much lower in countries with higher incomes than it is now.
Let's examine how the female longevity advantage has changed over time. The next chart compares male and female life expectancy at birth in the US between 1790 and 2014. Two specific points stand out.

First, there is an upward trend. Men and women in America live longer than they used to 100 years ago. This is in line with historical increases in life expectancy everywhere in the world.

Second, the gap is getting wider: Although the female advantage in life expectancy was tiny It has significantly increased with time.

It is possible to verify that the points you've listed are applicable to other countries with data by clicking on the "Change country" option in the chart. This includes the UK, France, and Sweden.