Life expectancy is the average number of years remaining to an individual of a specified age if the mortality conditions implied by a particular period (cross-sectional) or cohort (longitudinal) life table applied; the former projects the years remaining to all people of a given age, and the latter projects years remaining to all people born in a given year. Life expectancy is widely used as an indicator of mortality conditions because it is based on the mortality experience at all ages and is independent of age structure. [Source: Encyclopedia of Human Development; Average Life Expectancy]
average life expectancy
aging and older development
concepts