The life expectancy of Quebecers has recovered from the shock caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the most recent data published Wednesday by the Institut de la statistique du Québec (ISQ).
The life expectancy of the Quebec population reached 83 years in 2021, after having been 82.3 years in 2020 and 82.9 years in 2019, the year which preceded the health crisis.
The ISQ specifies that the average lifespan is 81.1 years for men and 84.9 years for women, according to the mortality conditions for 2021.
Not a lift anywhere
The institute’s bulletin on the subject reveals that, contrary to what has been observed in Quebec, life expectancy in 2021 has not returned to the level of 2019 in the majority of countries for which data is available.
Before the pandemic, there was already a slight slowdown in the growth of life expectancy in Quebec, but it was more marked in the rest of Canada and even more so in the United States. For example, the gap between Quebec and the United States, which was approximately 2 years in 2001, fell to 4 years in 2019, and it widened further with the pandemic to reach 6 years less in United States, based on last year’s preliminary estimate.
However, the ISQ points out that the various authorities do not count the causes of death linked to COVID-19 in the same way. The analysis of excess mortality allows the best comparison of the health consequences of the pandemic, according to the Institute.
This approach compares the number of deaths normally expected with the number actually observed and reveals that net excess mortality stood at 4.5% in Quebec between the start of the pandemic and March 12, i.e. approximately 6,400 deaths more than expected, all causes combined.
However, the Statistical Institute of Quebec affirms that the excess mortality assessment of the United States is much higher than that of Quebec, while that of the rest of Canada, initially lower than that of Quebec, has gradually approached and surpassed it in 2021.