Compression of Mortality: The Evolution in the Variability in the Age of Death in Latin America

Bernardo L. Queiroz, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG)
Marcos Gonzaga, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte
Everton E. C. Lima, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP)

In this paper, we analyze the quality of mortality data, the evolution the mortality age profile and concentration of deaths for Latin America populations over various time periods (staring at): Chile (1920), Mexico (1930), Brazil (1979), Argentina (1980), Colombia (1980), and Peru (1985), Costa Rica (1963) and Puerto Rico (1960). The analysis focuses on two main points: (i) the construction of an adequate age pattern of mortality for Latin America, and (ii) evolution of the distribution of deaths over age. We also compared evolution and trends in Latin America, compared to Eastern European countries and Swedish, as a benchmark standard. We make extensive use of mortality data available at the LAHMD, WHO and the HMD databases. The results indicate that quality of mortality data is improving overtime in Latin America. We also find a reduction in the variability of age at death and concentration of deaths around older ages. There is also important differences by sex.