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1991.08.28 :  Life Expectancy Statistics

Contacts: Sandra Smith (301) 436-7551 Liz Greeley (301) 435-7135  
August 28, 1991
                                                          
       After several years' decline, life expectancy for black
males has improved for two years in a row, to a record 66 years in
1990, according to the federal government's annual report of
provisional vital statistics, released today by HHS Secretary Louis
W. Sullivan, M.D.                                                 
                    Life expectancy was also up for black women to
a record 74.5 in 1990 from 73.4 in 1988 and 74.0 in 1989.  Black
women also experienced a decline in life expectancy between 1984
and 1988 but it was not as pronounced.  
       Overall life expectancy at birth for all Americans reached
a record 75.4 in 1990, up from 75.2 years in 1989.  Life expectancy
for white males stayed at 72.6 and for white women rose from 1989's
79.1 to 79.3 in 1990.  
       For black males, life expectancy rose from 64.9 in 1988 to
65.2 in 1989 and 66.0 in 1990.  Life expectancy for black men had
declined between 1984 and 1988, as documented in several reports of
final data released by the department.  
       "The increase of about a year in life expectancy for black
men is good news, long overdue,"  Dr. Sullivan said.  "Yet even
with this recent improvement, the gap in life expectancy between
black and white men is still greater in 1990 than it was in 1984
when life expectancy for black men began its downward turn," Dr.
Sullivan said.  
       Called the "Annual Summary of Births, Marriages, Divorces,
and Deaths: United States, 1990," the report was prepared by the
National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control,
a part of the Public Health Service within HHS.  It showed a
continued increase in the number and rate of deaths due to HIV
infection, with the highest death rates in young adults (15-44
years of age).  An estimated 24,120 deaths from HIV infection for
1990 was up 13 percent from 1989, after a 29-percent rise from 1988
to 1989.  The age-adjusted death rate for HIV infection increased
from an estimated 8.3 deaths per 100,000 population in 1989 to 9.1
in 1990.  HIV infection remained the 11th leading cause of death.
       Among other leading causes of death, homicide moved up from
tenth to ninth position, with a 13-percent increase in the age-
adjusted death rate from 9.4 deaths per 100,000 population in 1989
to 10.6 in 1990.  The age-adjusted rate for homicide peaked in
1980, declined until the mid-1980s, and has increased since then to
a level slightly below the 1980 peak rate of 10.8.  In 1990, there
were an estimated 25,700 homicides compared to an estimated 23,020
in 1989.
       James O. Mason, M.D., HHS assistant secretary for health and
head of the U.S. Public Health Service, said, "The increase in
deaths from HIV infection and homicide are particularly troubling
because they impact our younger people and the years of potential
life lost are many."
       The long, downward trend in deaths from heart disease,
stroke, and atherosclerosis continued in 1990.  The age-adjusted
death rate for heart disease declined from 155.9 per 100,000
population in 1989 to 150.3 in 1990.  Heart disease, with an
estimated 725,010 deaths in 1990, is the leading cause of death and
accounted for 33.5 percent of the 2,162,000 deaths from all causes
in 1990.
       The infant mortality rate for 1990 was 908.0 per 100,000
live births (9.1 per 1,000 live births), a record low and a 7-
percent drop from the 1989 rate of 973.3 per 100,000 live births
(9.7 per 1,000 live births).  The decline between 1989 and 1990
primarily reflects a decrease in neonatal mortality (infants
younger than 28 days).  Contributing substantially to the declining
infant mortality rate between 1989 and 1990 were fewer deaths from
respiratory distress syndrome, known to be concentrated in the
neonatal period.
       As reported earlier, an estimated 4,179,000 babies were born
during 1990, 4 percent more than reported in 1989, and the largest
number since 1961.  The birth rate was 16.7 live births per 1,000
population, up 3 percent from the provisional rate of 16.2 in 1989. 
Marriages totaled 2,448,000 in 1990, a 2-percent increase compared
to 1989.  The 1990 marriage rate was 9.8 per 1,000 population, a
slight increase compared to the 1989 rate of 9.7.  Divorces granted
in 1990 totaled 1,175,000 and the rate of 4.7 remained the same as
in 1989.

       The 1990 vital statistics are based on counts of vital
events and a 10-percent sample of death certificates received from
state vital statistics offices.  Data in the report are provisional
for 1990 and 1989 and final for 1988 and earlier years.  

       Copies of the report are available from the National Center
for Health Statistics, 6525 Belcrest Road, Room 1064, Hyattsville,
Md. 20782.   

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