LIFE TABLES

REGIONAL INSTITUTE FOR POPULATION STUDIES

UNIVERSITY OF GHANA

POPS 605: BASIC POPULATION ANALYSIS

DR. D. Y. ATIGLO & DR. C. A. E. OFORI

DECEMBER 2024
Learning Objectives
At the end of these lectures, students should be
able to;
1. Explain the concept of life tables
2. Identify the different types of life tables
3. Describe the different columns of the life table and their
functions
4. Compute the functions in the various columns of the life
table
5. Construct a full life table independently
6. Apply the concept of life tables in demographic analysis
and in other disciplines

POPS 605_2024/25_LIFE TABLES 2

 INTRODUCTION

POPS 605_2024/25_LIFE TABLES 3

The Concept of Life
Tables
 Life tables represent the mortality (exit/decrement) experience of
a population.
 Conceptually, the life table traces the mortality experience of a
cohort (for example, newborn babies) through their life course
under the assumption that the cohort is subject to the observed
schedule of age-specific death rates.
 The life table simulates the mortality experience of a population.
It represents the life history of a hypothetical cohort of people as
the population gradually reduces through death.
Note:
 As age increases, the number of survivors of the cohort declines.
 The decline is more rapid at ages where mortality rates are high.

4
 Uses and application of
LTs
Life tables are
 One of the most important tools in demographic analysis
 Used by demographers, actuarial scientists, public health
workers, economists and researchers in other fields in the
study of mortality, longevity, fertility, migration, marriage,
population growth, widowhood, orphanhood, morbidity,
disability-free life and school dropout, among others.
 Used in making population estimates and projections

5
 TYPES OF LIFE
TABLES

POPS 605_2024/25_LIFE TABLES 6

 Types of Life Tables
Life tables differ according to;
 the year of reference

 the age detail included in the computation

 the type of decrement (means of exiting the life table)
 a number of other factors that affect mortality patterns (or
other demographic events when the concept of life tables
are applied to other demographic analysis e.g., marriage)

7
 Types of LTs - Year of
reference
Based on the year of reference, there are two main types of
life tables:

 Generational or Cohort Life Table

 Current or Period Life Table

These can be put together in a:

 Composite Life Table

8
 reference
Generational or Cohort or Dynamic Life Table:
 Traces the actual or observed mortality of a particular birth cohort. For
example, the cohort of all persons born in 1960.
 The mortality experience of all persons in the cohort would be observed from
the moment of their birth through each consecutive age in successive calendar
years until all of them die.
Limitations
 Requires a long period of time to have the necessary data for computing the
life table especially for single year data.
 It is usually not possible to observe actual data on everybody in the cohort until
everyone of them dies.
 It is difficult to track all the people in the cohort as some may migrate or some
deaths might not be recorded etc.

Uses
 Cohort life tables are used for projections of mortality and studies of mortality
trends
9
 Cohort life tables are used in the measurement of fertility and reproductivity
 reference
Current or Period or Static life table;
 Gives a cross-sectional view or snapshot of the current mortality
experience over a short period of time – usually between 1 to 3
years or over an intercensal period.
 Mortality within the period should remain virtually constant
 The statistics on death used in the computation relates to a period
of 1-3 years and the population refers to the middle point of that
same period (usually close to the date of a census if available)
 The Period LT table represents the combined mortality experience
by age of the population in a particular short period of time as such
it is treated synthetically or viewed from a cross-sectional
perspective.
 It assumes a hypothetical cohort that is subject to the age-specific
death rates observed in the particular period. 10
 reference
Current or Period or Static life table;

Uses
 Gives a good summary description of mortality in a given year
or short period of time.

Limitations
 Does not represent the mortality experience of an actual
cohort
 It is reliant on the current or prevailing mortality experience at
the time (i.e. the ASDR).

11
 reference
Composite life table
 Combines data from a number of years and generations using
cohort and time specific (period) techniques
 Uses data collected over an indefinite period (several years)
 It involves a number of cohorts (cohort approach) and
samples a cross section of the population (period approach).
 It combines following individuals through time (cohort
approach) with the method of making inferences from the
current age structure (period analysis).
 This method allows the natural variability in rates of survival to
be monitored and assessed
12
 Types of LT – Age Detail
Complete (unabridged): Contains data for every single year of
age from birth to the last applicable age.

Abridged: Contains data at intervals of 5 or 10 years of age for

most of the age range.

13
Example of unabridged Life Table (1)

14
Example of unabridged Life Table (2)

15
Example of abridged Life Table (1)

An abridged life table for Croatia, 2011 (Smolic, 2015)

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316081720_Life_expectancy_in_Croa
tia_in_terms_of_eliminating_certain_causes_of_death/figures?lo=1 16
Example of abridged Life Table (2)

17
Types of LT – Means of
decrement

Single decrement

Alive

Death

18
Types of LT – Means of
decrement
Multiple decrement
Alive

Death due Death due Death due

to cause A to cause B to cause C

19
Types of LT – Means of
decrement
Multi-state and increment- decrement

Married

Single Widowed Divorced

Dead

20
 FUNCTIONS OF A LIFE
TABLE

POPS 605_2024/25_LIFE TABLES 21

 Columns, Functions and
Notatio Meaning
Notation
n
x to x+n Age interval

n qx Proportion dying

lx Number living at beginning of age interval

Note: At the beginning of the life table, there is an arbitrary or assumed start
of the number of people starting the life table (also represented as the
number of newborns). This is referred to as the radix and is represented as
l0. A radix of 100,000 is often used but other figures can be applied.

n dx Number dying during age interval

n Lx Number of person-years that would be lived in the age interval

Tx Total number of person-years that will be lived in the indicated

interval and subsequent age intervals
 Conventional Life Table –
Columns, Functions and
Notation
x to x+n n qx lx n dx n Lx Tx ex

23
 Life Table Functions
 The basic life table functions are nqx, lx, ndx, nLx, Tx and ex.
 The terms are written with subscript 0, 1, 2 etc. for exact age or
with “x” representing age and “x+n” representing age plus an
interval i.e. age x plus the number of years in the age interval.
For a life table with 5 year age intervals, the age can be written
as be written as x, x+5 etc.
 Some life table functions refer to exact ages e.g. (l x, Tx and ex)
because they are not intervals but pertain to exact age x.
 The other functions can be either exact age x for a full life table
or x+n for an abridged life table.
 Age x to x+n is the interval between 2 ages.

Note: The older ages are left as open e.g. 80+ because of small 24
numbers at those ages
 COMPUTATION OF
FUNCTIONS

POPS 605_2024/25_LIFE TABLES 25

 Probability of Death (nqx)
Age (x): usually known and does not require computation

x to x+n: The period between two exact ages. e.g. 15 - 19 means the five-year interval
between the 15th and 19th birthdays (exact age 15 – 19)

Mortality rates (nqx): This is the first column computed in a life table
q : proportion of those alive at age x who will die before reaching age x+n.
n x

or
nqx: the probability that a person of age x will die in the age interval (x to x+n)

Mathematically;
nqx = = …Equation 1

From Equation 1: ndx = lx * qx

where dx = number of deaths at age x

lx = number of people reaching or surviving to age x
qx = the probability of dying between age x and x+n
26
 Person-Years Lived (nLx)
Person Years Lived (Lx): Number of years lived at age x (or age interval)
General approach: If we assume that there is even distribution of death between exact
age x and x+n and each person who survives to age x but dies before age x+n lives on
average half person years, then;

Lx = ½(lx + lx+n)*n = (lx + lx+n)

Note:
There are some exceptions to this general approach. At the early years of life (0-2), the
assumption of an even distribution of death does not hold because of the high
concentration of death at these ages. Different rules therefore apply.

Example
L0 = a0l0 + (1 - a0)l1
where a0=the average age at death of those dying within the first year of life

General formula for first few years of life

Lx = axlx + (1 - ax)lx+1
L0 = 0.3l0 + 0.7l1
L1 = 0.4l1 + 0.6l2
27
L2 = 0.5l2 + 0.5l3 or the general approach
 Expectancy (ex)
Total number of person years lived beyond age x or after each age (T x):
Tx is calculated by adding up the Lx column progressively from the bottom

Tx = Tx+1 + Lx

Note: Tx = Lx at the last age (open ended age) at the bottom of the table

Life expectancy (ex): Mean or average expectation of life. This is the

average number of years to be lived (expected). It is calculated as;

ex =

where;
Tx = total number of person years lived at exact age x and above
lx = number of people attaining exact age x
28
 Probability of Survival (npx)
Survival rates (npx): proportion of survivors from age x to x+n

or probability of surviving from age x to x+n (over the age interval)

p =
n x ….Equation 2

From equation 2: lx+n = npx * lx

Note: Probability of survival to a certain age can be computed for various ages.

Example:
Calculate the probability that someone aged 20 will survive to age 70

Solution: Find n (age 20 to 70 = 50 years)

50P20 = l70/l20

Note:
Mortality rates and survival rates are mutually exclusive and add up to 1 (unity).
29
 TYPES OF MORTALITY
RATES

POPS 605_2024/25_LIFE TABLES 30

The Lexis Diagram & Life Tables

31
The Lexis Diagram & Life Tables

32
The Lexis Diagram & Life Tables

33
 Types of Mortality Rate - 1
m-rates denote the period approach of calculating age-specific
death rate at age x i.e. the number of people aged x who die in a
calendar year divided by the mid-year population aged x in that
calendar year
mx = =

q-rates follow a number of people who have their x-birthday during a

given period until they celebrate their next birthday or they die
(whichever happens first). Dividing the number who die (dx) by the
original number having their xth birthday (lx) gives the age-specific
death rate at age x.

 Assuming that deaths are equally distributed across each year of

age; implying that the number of deaths in the first half of exact
age x and x+1 is the same as the number of deaths in the second
half. 34
Types of mortality rate - 2
Dividing the numerator and denominator by Px will result in;
qx =

qx =

qx =

35
Constructing a life table using ASDR (m x)
Procedure
1. Convert ASDR (m-rates - mx) into q-rates – qx

Note: For the lower ages, different conversion factors apply

due to different mortality experiences at these ages;
q =
1 0

q =
4 1

q =
n x

Note: A different conversion procedure is used for the open

ended ages
For open ended ages ∞qx+ = 1.000 36
 Constructing a life table using ASDR (mx)
Procedure
2. Calculate L for the lower and oldest age groups using the appropriate
conversion factor for the lower and oldest ages

L0 = 0.3l0 + 0.7l1 Note: Some text books use the formula (L0 = 0.25l0 + 0.75l1)

4 1 L = 1.3l1 + 2.7l5 Note: Some text books use the formula (4L1 = 4/2(l1 + l5)

n Lx = (lx + lx+n) Note: Some text books use the formula (nLx = n*lx+n + (ndx))

e.g. when n = 5 and x = 5, then;

nLx = 5L5 = 5/2(l5 + l10)

At the open ages;

∞ x L + = lx+ * log10lx+
e.g. when x = 80, then 37
Constructing a life table using ASDR (mx)

Procedure
3. Calculate the other columns of the life table using the
relationships between the various functions of the life table as
appropriately applies

38
Exercise: Construct a life table from the following
ASDR data using MS Excel
Age (x) Number of deaths Census Population
0 14 601
1 5 2667
5 1 3484
10 0 3741
15 0 3568
20 1 2597
25 3 2969
30 5 3548
35 8 4005
40 9 4478
45 11 4934
50 14 4573
55 29 3742
60 30 2830
65 33 2063
70 41 1734
75 47 1209
80 45 727
85 40 370
90 33 203
95+ 21 103
 SURVIVAL RATES

POPS 605_2024/25_LIFE TABLES 40

Learning Objective
By the end of this lecture, students will be able to;
1. Explain the different types of survival rates

2. Identify columns of the life table that can be used to

calculate survival rates

3. Calculate life table survival rates

41
 Definition and Types
 Survival rates are defined in terms of two ages and two time frames, the
initial age and date (younger age) and the terminal age and date (older
age)
 Survival rates express survival from a younger age to an older age BUT
 It can also be used in the reverse manner to restore deaths to an older
population

Two types of survival can be calculated;

Forward survival: Survival rates used to reduce a population for deaths

are multiplied against the initial population
t 5 t+5
x x x+
Forward survival = 5P * 5S = 5E 5

Reverse survival: Survival

t rates
t-5
used to restore deaths are divided into the
x
terminal population in 5a reverse
x-5 calculation.
x 42
Reverse survival = 5E
 Survival rates – Grouped ages
Survival for population age groups are computed from the Lx column
(values) of the life table using the Lx value for the initial age group as
the denominator and the Lx value for the terminal age as the
numerator.

The survival rate for a 5-year group (x+5) for a 5-year time period
(n=5) is given as;
n Sx = =
Note:
1. Survival rate is usually denoted by S
2. Survival rate is usually written with a subscript x denoting age (S x)
3. The accompanying age (x) is usually the younger age
4. For grouped ages, the interval in the age-group (n) is written as a
43
subscript before the S (i.e. S)
 Survival rates – Single years
For a complete (full) life table, survival rates can be calculated for single
ages for a one year period or any other period. Survival rate for a single
age is calculated as;
Sx =

Note:
For a complete lite table in single years: Sx = =

Examples;
1. The proportion of the population 56 years of age on a given date that
will survive to the same date in the following year can be calculated as;
S56 =

10 55
2. The proportion of 55 year olds who are expected to live another 10
years is; 44
 Survival rates – Birthdays
Survival rates involving birthdays are calculated using the lx values

Examples;
1. The proportion of newborns who will survive to their sixth birthday is;

2. The proportion of newborn babies who will reach their first birthday is;
S=

45
Survival rates – Birthdays & Age interval
If survival from birth to a given age interval is required, then the
survival rate is calculated as;
S=

For a five-year age group, n=5, thus the survival rate is

calculated as;
S=

46
Survival rates – Open-ended age group
For the open-ended age group, survival rate is given as;
nSx =

47
Survival rates – Part of a calendar year
Survival rates for part of a calendar year may be calculated by
interpolating between the Lx’s.

A year survival rate for a complete life table (except under 1) can
be computed as;
S=

48
 Sample Calculations
Based on the information provided in Table 1;

a. Calculate the probability that the proportion of the male

population aged 25 years on a given date will survive to the
same date the following year.

Answer:
S25 =

b. Calculate the survival rate if the proportion of the population

aged 55 are expected to live another 20 years

Answer:
2055

S = 49
 Sample Calculations
Based on the information provided in the abridged life table in Table 2;

a. Calculate the survival rate for those aged 35-39 years if they live to
be 50-54 years

Answer
15S35 =

b. Calculate the probability that a new born will die before reaching the
age of 10 years

Answer
Prob (survival) + Prob (dying) = 1

Prob (dying) = 1 – Prob (surviving) 50

 Sample Calculations
Based on the information provided in Table 1;
a. Calculate survival rate for newborn male babies if they live to their
10th birthday.
Answer
S=

b. Calculate the probability that the proportion of the population aged

30 years will celebrate their 35th birthday
Answer
S=

51
 Sample Calculation
Based on the information provided in the abridged life table from
Table 2;

a. What proportion of new born babies will survive to the end of

that year (when the cohort is under 1 year of age)

Answer
S=

b. Calculate the probability that a newborn will live to the age

interval 15-19
Answer
S=
52
 Sample Calculation
Based on the information provided in the abridged life table from Table
2;
a. Calculate the probability that the proportion of the population aged 90
years will live another 5 years

Answer
∞S10 =
90

53
 Sample Calculation – Joint survival
In 1993, a 30 year old man and a 25 year old woman were
married.

a. What is the probability that they will celebrate their 5th

anniversary together.

Answer
Find the probability of survival for the man and the woman for the
next five years
Prob. Sur (Man) = 5S30 = Prob. Sur (Woman) = 5S25 =

Prob. of celebrating 5th anniversary together

54
 Sample Calculation – Joint survival
b. What is the probability that the woman will be a widow by their
5th anniversary

Answer
Prob. of woman being a widow
= Prob. of woman surviving * Prob. of man dying

55
 Other Things to Note…
Census survival ratio

Model life tables

Stationary Population

56