ABSTRACT
Based on the 2015 Revision of the World Population Prospects, this chapter reviews the trends of life expectancy at age 65 (e 65 ) and the age-sex patterns of old-age mortality for Asian countries from 1950 to 2015. Most countries in Asia made significant progress in the past six decades in lowering elderly mortality. Compared to older men, older women experienced a faster mortality decline and greater gains in e 65 , despite their lower mortality and higher life expectancy. The youngest-old adults witnessed a greater decline in mortality than the oldest-old, and consequently mortality decline at these ages contributed more to the gain in e 65 than that at older ages. Countries with relatively high e 65 in 1950 also experienced a larger gain between 1950 and 2015 compared with other countries. Gains in e 65 in Eastern and South-Eastern Asia in the study period were in accordance with their socioeconomic development and urbanization processes. It is projected that the decline in old-age mortality will continue, even in countries with the world’s lowest mortality; on average, both males’ and females’ e 65 in Asia will exceed the world average by the end of the twenty-first century, from its lower levels today.
