MORTALITY TRENDS

• Trends in national mortality rates •  

Graphs showing time trends in mortality rates

All-cause mortality at age 35-69 years in

France: 1900-2007

Graph showing all-cause mortality at age 35-69 in France since 1900

Colours: The coloured curves represent French males (blue) and females (red); for comparison, the light grey curves represent males (upper grey curve) and females (lower) in England & Wales.

Comment: The mortality rate for middle-aged French men fell abruptly by 27% between 1918 and 1919, and by 40% between 1944 and 1946. For middle-aged French women, the corresponding falls were 15% and 35%. Since the 1950s, the female rate has been lower in France than in England and Wales, but since the 1990s, the male rate has been higher in France.

Method: Mortality rates were downloaded from the Human Mortality Database (see www.mortality.org or www.humanmortality.de) on 4 December 2009. The plotted lines connect unsmoothed values.

WHO mortality rates for particular countries, ages and causes of death