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Turks who are highly educated live longer on average than those who have achieved a lower level of education, according to data released by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat).
TurkStat on Wednesday released “Life Tables, 2021-2023,” revealing the life expectancy at birth — the average number of years a newborn is expected to live having been exposed to current mortality risks — in Turkey in that timeframe to have been 77.3 years, slightly lower than the 77.5 years in the 2020-2022 period.
TurkStat has for the first time examined the relationship between longevity and level of education and found a positive correlation between the two, with a higher education level resulting in higher life expectancy.
For instance, while the average remaining life expectancy at age 30 was 48.6 years for a graduate of primary school, it was 50 years for a secondary school graduate and 52.1 years for a graduate of tertiary education, which include universities, colleges, technical training institutes and vocational schools.
The average remaining life expectancy at age 70 was 13.6 years for a graduate of primary school, 14.7 years for a secondary school graduate and 15.7 years for a graduate of tertiary education.
Life expectancy for all age groups was lower among those with lower educational attainment.
TurkStat data confirm a study published in The Lancet, a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal, earlier this year, which examined the effects of education on adult mortality. It was the first systematic study directly linking education to gains in longevity.
The study, using evidence from industrialized countries such as the UK and US as well as developing countries such as China and Brazil, found that an adult’s risk of mortality went down by 2 percent for every year in full-time education.
Completing primary, secondary and tertiary education is the equivalent of a lifetime of eating a healthy diet, lowering the risk of death by 34 percent compared to those with no formal education, according to the study.
Women live longer than men
TurkStat data also showed that women in Turkey live longer than men, with the difference between life expectancy at birth of females and males being 5.3 years.
The life expectancy at birth for males, which was 74.8 years in the 2020-2022 period, was 74.7 years in the 2021-2023 period, according to TurkStat. This value for females decreased slightly from 80.3 to 80 years in the same period.
Tunceli has the highest life expectancy at birth
The eastern province of Tunceli has the highest life expectancy at birth with 80.8 years, according to TurkStat. It is followed by the southeastern provinces of Şırnak and Mardin with 79.7 years. The province that had the lowest life expectancy at birth was the southeastern province of Kilis with 76.1 years. Kilis was followed by Gaziantep with 76.2 years and Adana with 76.8 years.
Life expectancy at birth in Turkey’s economic hub and most crowded city of İstanbul was 78.6 years, higher than the Turkey average.
Life expectancy at birth in Ankara was 79.2 years, again higher than the Turkey average.