MPIDR Working Paper

Old-age mortality in Germany prior to and after reunification

Gjonca, A., Brockmann, H., Maier, H.
MPIDR Working Paper WP-1999-011
Rostock, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (September 1999)
This working paper has now been published. It is available at Demographic Research, 3/1, 2000
Open Access

Abstract

Recent trends in German life expectancy show a considerable increase. Most of this increase has resulted from decreasing mortality at older ages. Patterns of oldest old mortality (ages 80+) differed significantly between men and women as well as between East and West Germany. While West German oldest old mortality decreased since the mid 1970s, comparable decreases in East Germany did not become evident until the late 1980s. Yet, the East German mortality decline accelerated after German reunification in 1990, particularly among East German females, attesting to the plasticity of human life expectancy and the importance of late life events. Medical care, individual economic resources and life-style factors are discussed as potential determinants of the decline in old age mortality in Germany. (AUTHORS)
The Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR) in Rostock is one of the leading demographic research centers in the world. It's part of the Max Planck Society, the internationally renowned German research society.