Women have a higher average life expectancy than men across most human populations
Extensive demographic and global health data consistently demonstrate that women have a higher average life expectancy than men across the vast majority of human populations.
The retrieved papers overwhelmingly support the claim that women live longer than men across most human populations, attributing the gap to a combination of biological, behavioral, and cause-specific mortality factors. None of the papers refute the general trend, although some note regional anomalies or historical crossovers.
Emmanuelle Cambois, Géraldine Duthé, France Meslé. Global Trends in Life Expectancy and Healthy Life Expectancy. 2023. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190632366.013.384
Global health data shows women consistently maintain higher average life expectancy across various regional income levels.
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Ken R. Smith, Huong Meeks, Silvia Rizzi, Rune Lindahl-Jacobsen. How Cause-Specific Mortality Contributes to Sex Differences in Life Expectancy over Time. Trends in Utah and Denmark. 2025. https://doi.org/10.51964/hlcs23048
Comparative demographic studies confirm that female life expectancy exceeds male life expectancy driven largely by cardiovascular and behavioral differences.
Johannes Schünemann, Holger Strulik, Timo Trimborn. The gender gap in mortality: How much is explained by behavior?. 2017. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhealeco.2017.04.002
Econometric models of health deficit accumulation show that behavioral factors and preferences account for a major portion of the female longevity advantage.
E Ginter, V Simko. Women live longer than men.. 2013. https://doi.org/10.4149/bll_2013_011
Demographic literature establishes that women live longer than men globally, typically by several years depending on the socioeconomic context.
Hisrael Passarelli-Araujo, Larissa Gonçalves Souza, Pamila Cristina Lima Siviero. Gender gap in life expectancy: the impact of mortality from external causes in Minas Gerais, Brazil (1980-2018).. 2026. https://doi.org/10.1590/1413-81232026314.08992024
Regional studies on mortality disparities consistently document a male disadvantage in life expectancy due to higher external and preventable causes of death.
Stuart Gietel-Basten, Vladimir Mau, Sergei Scherbov, Sergey Shulgin. The Gender Gap in Reaching "Old Age" in the Russian Federation: A Regional Approach.. 2021. https://doi.org/10.1080/08959420.2020.1777823
Spatial analyses in diverse settings such as Russia continue to highlight a pronounced gender gap in reaching older ages, driven by higher male mortality.
Magdalena Muszynska-Spielauer, Paola Di Giulio, Yuka Minagawa, Vanessa Di Lego, Marc Luy. Why do women live longer than men, but spend more time in poor health? A decomposition analysis of the gender gap in unhealthy life years across Europe.. 2026. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10654-025-01346-2
Decomposition analyses across European countries confirm the longevity hypothesis, showing women consistently achieve higher life expectancies than men.
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