Improvements in mortality rates among people aged 60 years and over in Brazil over 1980-2006

Nelson Otávio Beltrão Campos, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais
Renata Braga de Albuquerque Campos, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais

In Brazil, the speed of the aging process of the population has increased dramatically. At first, this process is mostly influenced by the reduction in the level of fertility, but as this tendency consolidates, the decrease in the mortality rates among people aged 60 years and more also becomes crucial for the increase in the population aging. Thus, this paper shows the pace of the decline in the mortality of the elderly in the Brazilian from 1980 to 2006. The observed reductions in mortality for people aged 60 years and more are very important, mainly for women. Focusing on the age groups separately, it was found that such reductions have been more expressive for older elderly than for younger elderly. Therefore, the mortality of the elderly in the Brazil in the 80’s and 90’s fell far of being converged to a biological limit where future reductions would be difficult.