The infant mortality rate was 25.8%, having fallen by 14.3%  between 2000 and 2005. Between 1991 and 2000, there was increase (47.5%) of the  number of elderly persons who were heads of the household. The number of elderly persons who lived with their grandchildren/great-grandchildren without their children stepchildren also increased.

In 2005, life expectancy at birth¹ in Brazil reached 71.9 years. In relation to 2004, there was increase corresponding to the fifth part of 1 year, that is 2 months and 12 days.

In the ranking of Federative Units with the highest life expectancy rates in 2005, the Federal District was in the 1^st position, with 74.9 years; Alagoas, with 66.0 years, was in the last place.  This result shows that, in 2005, a Brazilian who had been born in the Federal Capital and who was a resident in this same place lived, on average, 8.9 years more than someone born in Alagoas. Although these figures reflect the continuation of regional inequalities in terms of social development, the difference had been reduced throughout the years, as shown in the estimates in Table 1. In 2000, this difference between the same states was 9.8 years.

Although the states in the Northeast and North Regions are placed in the last positions in the ranking of life expectancies at birth, these were the ones which had the most significant gains between 2000 and 2005. The biggest increases in this period were observed in the states of Alagoas, Maranhão and Pernambuco, with 2.1, 2.1 and 2.0 years, respectively. This behavior is not surprising, though, since the biggest increases in life expectancy are usually associated to higher mortality rates.

In other words, except when there is strong interference of the Government, especially, in the areas of Health and Public Security, life expectancy at birth tends to face smaller increases from a certain level on. The lowest increments to the average duration of life occurred in the Federal District (1.2) and in the states of Santa Catarina (1.3) and Rio Grande do Sul (1.4).

On the other hand, the differences between the sexes have changed very little in the period of five years to which the survey refers: 7.6 years, at national level. Among the states, Rio de Janeiro had the most significant differences between the figures of mortality by sex, both in 2000 (9.2 years) and in 2005 (8.9 years).

In 2005, Ceará, with a figure of 8.8 years, was in second place in terms of difference of life expectancy at birth by sex, followed by São Paulo, with 8.5 years. However, it is important to point out that in these three Federative Units these figures faced little reductions. In Tocantins, Roraima, Acre and Rondônia were observed the lowest differences: 4.4, 4.9, 5.2 and 5.5 years in favor of the female population, and all figures were higher than those in 2000.

In 5 years, infant mortality falls by 14.3%

Although it reflects the big social and regional differences in Brazil, the infant mortality rate² is a concrete example of governmental and non-governmental measures in the field of health, and constitutes an indicator which absorbs and reflects the life and health conditions of the population.

In Brazil, between 200 and 2005, the infant mortality rate was reduced by 14.3%, having decreased from 30.1% to 25.8% (Table 2). In 2005, the state with the lowest infant mortality rate was Rio Grande do Sul, with a figure of 14.3%, followed by São Paulo, with 16.5%.

In Alagoas and in Maranhão, among each group of 1,000 babies born alive in 2005,  53,7 and 42,1, respectively, died before their first birthday. The states had the highest infant mortality rates in 2005.

Population 65 years of age or over increases by 45% between 1991 and 2000

The population in Brazil in 2000 outnumbered 169 million inhabitants, accounting for an increment of 15.7% to the resident population of the country according to the 1991 Demographic Census (146.8 million inhabitants). This way, during the 1960’s, the rhythm of average annual increase of the population was 1.6%. In the same period, the population 65 years of age or over increased by 41%, with an average annual rate of growth of approximately 4%.

In 2000, of the 9,9 million persons in this age group, 6,4 million were responsible for their respective families. In 1991, persons in this situation totaled 4,3 million. Considering such figures, the relative increase of the number of heads of household at 65 years of age or over, in the period 1991-2000, was 47.6%. In absolute figures, the non-heads of household, on both occasions, were practically half of those who declared themselves as belonging to the other group.

In the 1990’s, number of elderly persons who are heads of household increases by 47.5%

The number of heads of household at 65 years of age or over increased by 47.5% between 1991 and 2000, being the highlight women without a spouse (74.5%: 332,6 thousand, in 1991, and 562.9 thousand, in 2000), and men without a wife (44.0%: 306.2 thousand, in 1991, and  441 thousand, in 2000). With a relatively small number in comparison with the others, the group of women without a spouse was the one which increased most in the period (557.9%). This result points to new cultural trends in terms of the role of women in the family and in society.

Number of grandchildren / great-grandchildren living only with their grandparents increases

In 2000, there were 1,7 million grandchildren/great-grandchildren living in families whose heads of household were their grandparents/great-grandparents. Another interesting example of disaggregation is the occurrence of heads of household at 65 years of age or over who lived with their grandchildren/great-grandchildren without their children/stepchildren. In this case, the children/grandchildren did not love in the same house as their parents, that is, with the children/grandchildren of the respective heads of the household. The reasons accounting for this reality vary: premature death, family dissolution, formation of another family in another household or even migration (temporary or not), the fact is that, in 2000, 466 grandparents/great-grandparents were directly responsible for their grandchildren/great-grandchildren, and in this group 246.2 thousand were women at 65 years of age or over without a spouse (62.0%). In 2000, 690 thousand grandchildren/great-grandchildren lived in families under the responsibility of their grandparents/great-grandparents, without the presence of intermediate generations.

Table 4 shows that the number of women at 65 years of age or over who are head of the household is higher than the number of men in the same situation, especially the group of women without a spouse. This fact is a consequence, to a great extent, of the longer life of women. However, this higher life expectancy does not grant women the same chances as men obtain of establishing new relationships, and most of these women remain as widows, estranged or divorced.

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¹It expresses the life expectancy of a newly-born baby who, thoughout his life, is exposed to the mortality rates of the population at the moment of birth.

²It expresses the number of deaths of babies under 1 years of age for each group of 1,000  babies orn alive. It is the probability of a newly-born dying before his/her first birthday.

See the survey tables (in Portuguese):

Both sexes

Women

Men