From Leader to Laggards: The Deterioration of Life Expectancy at Older Ages in Mexico Compared to Other Countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, 1990-2019

Mexico is experiencing an accelerated process of demographic aging that is not accompanied by improvements in health and mortality conditions. This work aims to compare the evolution of life expectancy at age 65 (e65) in Mexico with the ten countries in Latin America and the Caribbean with the highest e65 levels in each year between 1990 and 2019. The life table data is retrieved from the World Population Prospects 2022 revision from United Nations, and this article uses demographic decomposition methods to assess differences in e65 between Mexico and the other countries and to assess changes over time in the e65. Most of the differences in e65 between Mexico and the other countries is explained by higher mortality below age 79, which has halted progress in e65 in Mexico between 1990 and 2019. The results reflect the challenges of health policies.