Turkey Life Expectancy At Birth Less Than EU Average

Life expectancy at birth is 76.3 years for the population of Turkey, four years less than average in the European Union, according to a press release published on Wednesday by the Turkish Statistics Institute (TurkStat) reporting data for 2013.

In Turkey life expectancy at birth is 76.3 years on average, 73.7 years for men and 79.4 years for women. A comparison of TurkStat's findings with 2012 statistics from Eurostat indicates that Turks have a lower life expectancy than Europeans. The average life expectancy at birth in 28 EU member states is 80.3 years.

The highest life expectancy in Turkey was found in the northern Black Sea province of Giresun, with an average of 78.9 years. Rize and Yalova came second, with life spans averaging at 78.7 years. The provinces with the lowest life expectancy were in the east, with Erzurum leading with 72.1 years, followed by Mardin with 73.2 and Van with 73.3.

TurkStat used life tables, also known as mortality tables, to gather their data, which show what the probability is that a person of that age will die before his or her next birthday.

In the two largest Turkish cities, İstanbul and Ankara, life expectancy averaged 77.2 years total with 74.4 for males and 79.9 for females. The average in Turkey's major cities is higher than the national average.

(Cihan/Today's Zaman)