Thirty-four years ago, in 1980, the average life expectancy for a person born in the Dominican Republic was 63 years. By 2014 this had increased to 73.5 years, meaning that life expectancy has grown by 10.5 years over these 34 years. The increase is shown in a chronological series worked out within the framework of the Human Development Index 2014 in a recent report on life expectancy published by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
Life expectancy refers to the number of years that a person should live if the death rate at the time of birth does not change during their lifetime. This can vary depending on changes that occur in living standards throughout the years.
If one takes into account the 2014 Gender Development Index also published by the UNDP, women in the Dominican Republic have a longer life expectancy at birth, 76.7 years compared to men with 70.4.
Nevertheless, these figures, according to a report in Diario Libre are below the estimates for Latin America and the Caribbean. The Gender Index figures reveal that women in the LAC region have a life expectancy of 78.2 years and men 71.7 years.
The UNDP says that the Human Development Index is a measurement that assesses long-term progress in the three basic dimensions of human development: long life and health, access to knowledge and a reasonable standard of living.
In the Dominican Republic average school attendance increased by 3.7 years between 1980 and 2014. The UNDP points out that access to learning is measured through the number of years that children attend school. In 1985 children were expected to be in school for 11.2 years and in 2014 this increased to 13.1.