Gender gap in life expectancy in Hong Kong, 1986-2016

Over the past decades,life expectancy in Hong Kong has been increasing steadily.However,the gender gap in life expectancy has experienced a comparatively high level of plateauing state.Based on data from the Human Mortality Database and the official statistics,an age-and cause-decomposition method was used to analyze contributions of main age groups and major causes of death to the gender gap over the period 1986-2016.The results showed that a female-advantage in the mortality among those aged 25 years and above was mainly responsible for the male-female gap in life expectancy in Hong Kong.In consideration of major causes of death,lower female mortality from non-communicable diseases,particularly malignant neoplasms,and pneumonia at older age groups,was the major contributor to the female-favored life expectancy.Public efforts to reduce excess mortality rates from non-communicable diseases and pneumonia among older male population may help narrow the gender gap in life expectancy in Hong Kong.