France's death rate at ‘historically low' level
The immediate
downward trend is largely due to the drop in mortality caused by COVID-19 – accounting for 60 percent of the decrease, according to a joint study by the Direction de la recherche, des études, de l'évaluation et des statistiques (DREES), the Centre d'épidémiologie des causes médicales de décès de l'Inserm (CépiDc-Inserm) and Santé publique France.
However the numbers also reflect a general trend of falling death rates that was seen in the pre-pandemic period.
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The report, out a day after another study revealed that fewer babies were born in 2024 than in any year since the Second World War, raises questions about the future of France's social care system.
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Why French women want fewer babies
'Smaller declines are also observed for most of the major causes [of death],' the report said, which notes two exceptions: mortality from respiratory diseases and mortality from infectious and parasitic diseases, which are slightly on the rise.
Despite much lower death rates than in the 2020-2022 period, Covid remained the ninth most common cause of death in 2023.
Anne Fouillet, from Santé Publique France,
told French newspaper Libération
: "Covid mortality has followed the decline in circulation of the epidemic, which has been associated with immunisation of the population - thanks in particular to vaccination.
"But it still caused 14,000 deaths in 2023, mostly among the elderly - 63 percent of the dead were aged 85 or over."
The leading causes of death for both men and women remains cancer which account for more than 27 percent of deaths in France. Cancer affects a younger population on average than other causes of mortality – and are the leading cause of death among children aged one to 14, after external causes such as accidents or road traffic collisions.
However, according to the report, cancer deaths are declining, 'with the exception of pancreatic cancer, which is on the rise, and lung, bronchial, and tracheal cancer in women.'
Cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases – heart attack, stroke, heart failure – are the second leading cause of death, accounting for 21.4 percent of deaths, down slightly on figures from 2022.
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These are followed, in order, by 'ill-defined symptoms and conditions,' external causes of morbidity (eg car accidents) diseases of the respiratory system (including Covid), diseases of the nervous system and sensory organs, and diseases of the digestive system.
Although it is still hard to precisely disentangle the effects of the pandemic on deaths, the report's authors say that overall the deaths rates remain slightly higher than suggested by the continuation of pre-Covid trends.
More than half of all deaths in France (53 percent) occur in healthcare facilities (public or private) and almost a quarter at home (24 percent). Nearly 30 percent of deaths at home involve people receiving home hospital care, up from 2022.
French life expectancy currently sits at 85.3 years for females and 79.4 years for males.
France also does well for the expected years of 'healthy life' - women on average in France can expect to live until the age of 64.5 years without suffering any debilitating health problem, while the average age for men living a healthy life is 63.4 years.
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:
Why do the French live so long?✎
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