Men in the Azores have a life expectancy 6.21 years lower than women

Men in the Azores had a life expectancy at birth of 75.65 years in 2023–2025, compared with 81.86 years for women. The 6.21-year gap was the largest among Portuguese regions, according to figures from the National Statistics Institute (INE).

For the Azorean population as a whole, life expectancy at birth stood at 78.69 years, 3.16 years below Portugal’s figure of 81.85. The archipelago had the lowest value among the country’s NUTS II and NUTS III regions. Nationally, the gap between women’s and men’s life expectancy was 5.04 years.

Life expectancy at birth in the Azores had been 78.67 years in 2020–2022, just 0.02 years below the latest figure. Among NUTS II regions, Madeira recorded 80.06 years in 2023–2025, while the North had the highest value, at 82.31 years.

The regional figure was also below the national one at age 65. A person reaching that age could expect to live a further 18.47 years on average in the Azores, compared with 20.19 years in Portugal. In the region, remaining life expectancy at 65 was 16.76 years for men and 20.01 for women.

Speaking to RTP Açores, sociologist Licínio Tomás drew attention to people not seeking medical care and advocated prevention and regular health monitoring. The figures allow mortality conditions to be compared between populations, but they do not by themselves explain the causes of the differences or determine how long any individual will live.