Who lives longer? Women or men?

On average, women live longer than men. Why is that?

Using data from 30 European countries, scientists have determined that cigarettes and alcohol play a role in this gender gap. Women live longer on average than men. According to the German Federal Statistical Office, a boy born in Germany today has a life expectancy of 77 years and 6 months, while a girl would live to over 82.

How can this difference be explained? Is it just biology that allows women to live a few years longer? Researchers from Great Britain wanted to demonstrate the extent to which cigarette and alcohol consumption influence this. They analyzed the causes of death in several European countries, including Germany.

The data came from the World Health Organisation. In addition to cancer of the respiratory organs, smoking can also trigger certain heart, vascular, or lung diseases. Liver diseases and oesophagal cancer, among other things, can be attributed to increased alcohol consumption. Smoking therefore explains up to 60% of the difference in the annual number of deaths between men and women.

The researchers discovered significant differences between individual countries. The difference between men and women was minimal in Iceland, as were the differences in Great Britain, Greece, Sweden, and Cyprus. In Eastern Europe, however, it was particularly pronounced and highest in Ukraine. Germany was in the middle of the pack. In this country, about half of the differences are due to cigarette smoking and one-fifth to alcohol consumption. This suggests that changing smoking habits will lead to a convergence of life expectancy between the sexes in the long term.