Life expectancy of different ethnic groups using death records linked to population census data for 4.62 million people in Scotland

ABSTRACT
Background Few countries record the data needed
to estimate life expectancy by ethnic group. Such
information is helpful in assessing the extent of health
inequality.
Method Life tables were created using 3 years of
deaths (May 2001–April 2004) linked to Scottish 2001
Census data for 4.62 million individuals with self-reported
ethnicity. We created 8 ethnic groups based
on the census definitions, each with at least 5000
individuals and 40 deaths. Life expectancy at birth was
calculated using the revised Chiang method.
Results The life expectancy of White Scottish males at
birth was 74.7 years (95% CI 74.6 to 74.8), similar to
Mixed Background (73.0; 70.2 to 75.8) and White Irish
(75.0; 74.0 to 75.9), but shorter than Indian (80.9;
78.4 to 83.4), Pakistani (79.3; 76.9 to 81.6), Chinese
(79.0; 76.5 to 81.5), Other White British (78.9; 78.6 to
79.2) and Other White (77.2; 76.4 to 78.1). The life
expectancy of White Scottish females was 79.4 years
(79.3 to 79.5), similar to mixed background (79.3; 76.6
to 82.0), but shorter than Pakistani (84.6; 82.0 to
87.3), Chinese (83.4; 81.1 to 85.7), Indian (83.3; 80.7
to 85.9), Other White British (82.6; 82.3 to 82.9), other
White (82.0; 81.3 to 82.8) and White Irish (81; 80.2 to
81.8).
Conclusions Males and females in most of the larger
ethnic minority groups in Scotland have longer life
expectancies than the majority White Scottish population.