Between 1991 and 2007, the expectation of life at birth in Brazil increased by 5 years, 6 months and 26 days, and the infant mortality rate (under one-year-old deaths per one thousand live births) declined: from 45.19 ‰, in 1991, to 24.32 ‰, in 2007. 

Between 1991 and 2007, the expectation of life at birth in Brazil increased by 5 years, 6 months and 26 days, and the infant mortality rate (under one-year-old deaths per one thousand live births) declined: from 45.19 ‰, in 1991, to 24.32 ‰, in 2007.  In the same period, the relation between the mortality of men and women with ages between 20 and 24 years old increased from 3.34 in 1991 to 4.20 in 2007, and the Southeast Region continued to record the highest result (4.99).  If deaths due to external causes, particularly the violent ones, among the young male population, had not had the current numbers, the expectation of life of Brazilians could be higher in approximately 2 years. 

Between 1991 and 2007, the population of the country gained 5.57 years in the expectation of life at birth, increasing from 67.00 years, in 1991, to 72.57 years, in 2007.

In 2006, the expectation of life for Brazil was 72.28 years and increased 3 months and 14 days in the course of one year.  The difference by sex which, in 1991, was 7.70 years had a slight decline, changing to 7.62 years, in 2007.  The more significant differences by sex were found in the Southeast and Central West Regions, certainly due to the combination of causes such as the higher feminine longevity and the deaths caused by external causes among the young male population.

Since 1999, IBGE publishes, annually, the complete mortality table of the Brazilian population, according to the 2nd Article of the Presidential Decree number 3,266 of 11/29/1999.  The data of the Life Table are used by the Ministry of Social Security in the calculation of the security retirement factor of persons covered by the General Regime of Social Security.

Men among 20 and 24 years old had 4 more chances of dying than women

In Brazil, in the age group from 20 to 24 years old, the male over-mortality changed from 3.34, in 1991, to 4.20, in 2007.  Therefore, the chance of a man to die with age from 20 to 24 years old was four times higher than the one of a woman in the same age group.  

If the deaths by external causes, particularly the violent deaths, had not reached the current numbers, the expectation of life at birth of a Brazilian could have been higher in 2 or 3 years (table 3).  In 1991, a woman born in Rio Grande do Sul lived, on the average, 18.98 years more than a man born in Alagoas.  In 2007, the difference which separates the expectation of life of a woman from the Federal District and a man from Alagoas was 16.32 years.  In 1991 as well as in 2007, the highest differences in the expectation of life at birth among the Federative Units may be observed in Rio de Janeiro and in São Paulo (Table 3).  In the Northeast, in 2007, it is worth mentioning the situations of Ceará and Alagoas.

Between 1991 and 2007, the infant mortality fell more than 46 %

The infant mortality rate (below one-year- old deaths per one thousand live births) declined from 45.19 ‰, in 1991, to 24.32 ‰, in 2007, representing a percentage diminishment of more than 46%, in 16 years.  In this sense, it is important to mention that Brazil, as signer of the Millennium Council, has the goal of reaching until 2015, a infant mortality rate near 15 ‰, and the projection indicates a rate of 18.20 ‰.  The results of the 2010 Demographic Census brings more precise subsidies for a better evaluation of the possibilities of Brazil to reach this goal contained in the Millennium Development Goals.  Anyway, it is possible to note the continuity of great distances between the North, Northeast and Central West of the country, portraying a scenario of evident socio-regional inequalities (Table 4).    

During these 16 years, infant mortality was reduced in all the Federative Units, and the expectation of life at birth increased in all ages, especially at birth. However, the premature death of young males due to external causes is a social factor uncomfortable for the country, mainly, because it is a consequence in part of the violence established in the Brazilian society, opening wounds that are not healing.