Ageing populations in the Nordic countries: Mortality and longevity from 1990 to 2014.

• Published in: Scandinavian Journal of Public Health
• Main Authors: Jørgensen, Terese Sara Høj, Fors, Stefan, Nilsson, Charlotte Juul, Enroth, Linda, Aaltonen, Mari, Sundberg, Louise, Brønnum-Hansen, Henrik, Strand, Bjørn Heine, Chang, Milan, Jylhä, Marja
• Other Authors: 1 Section of Social Medicine, Department of Public Health, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark. 2 Center for Healthy Aging, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen K, Denmark. 3 Aging Research Center, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm University, Sweden. 4 Faculty of Social Sciences and Gerontology Research Center (GEREC), University of Tampere, Finland. 5 Institute for Advanced Social Research, University of Tampere, Finland. 6 Department of Chronic Diseases and Ageing, Norwegian Institute of Public Health Oslo, Norway. 7 The Icelandic Gerontological Research Center, Landspitali University Hospital and University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland. 8 Faculty of Health Promotion, Sport and Leisure Studies University of Iceland, Reykjavík, Iceland.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: SAGE Publications 2019
• Subjects: Demographics; Nordic countries; ageing populations; life expectancy; Aldraðir; Lífslíkur; Norðurlandabúar; Aged; 80 and over; Mortality; Scandinavian and Nordic Countries; Norway; Iceland
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2336/621101; https://doi.org/10.1177/1403494818780024

To access publisher's full text version of this article click on the hyperlink below Aims: Cross-country comparisons of mortality and longevity patterns of Nordic populations could contribute with novel insights into the compositional changes of these populations. We investigated three metrics of population ageing: the proportion of the population aged 75+ and 90+ years, the proportion of birth cohorts reaching 75 and 90 years, and life expectancy (LE) at age 75 and 90 years in Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Denmark and Finland, in the period 1990-2014. Methods: Demographic information was collected from national statistical databases and the Human Mortality Database. Results: All metrics on population ageing increased during the study period, but there were some cross-country variations. Finland experienced a notably steep increase in the proportion of 75+ and 90+ year olds compared to the other countries. Regarding the proportion reaching old ages, the Finnish lagged behind from the beginning, but females decreased this difference. The Danes were more similar to the other countries at the beginning, but did not experience the same increase over time. Gender-specific LE at age 75 and 90 years was similar overall in the five countries. Conclusions: Developments in cross-country variation suggest that survival until old age has become more similar for Finnish females and more different for Danish males and females compared with the other countries in recent decades. This provides perspectives on the potential to improve longevity in Denmark and Finland. Similarities in LE in old age suggest that expected mortality in old age has been more similar throughout the study period.