Life expectancy in China and the contribution of regional dynamics

Mengxue Chen; Wen Su; Vladimir Canudas-Romo

doi:10.4054/DemRes.2026.54.39

Life expectancy in China and the contribution of regional dynamics

Mengxue Chen
, Wen Su
, Vladimir Canudas-Romo

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Life expectancy in China has been increasing in recent decades, but regional inequalities persist. Unbalanced regional development has resulted in large-scale population movement. Over time, the changing regional distribution of the population changes the proportion of the population exposed to different regional mortality levels.
OBJECTIVE
The increase in national life expectancy can be attributed to changes in both regional mortality and the regional composition of the population. We aim to quantify the respective contributions of changes in mortality and in the composition of the population.
METHODS
We apply a decomposition method to data from the Chinese Disease Surveillance Points system from 2010 to 2020 and disaggregate the improvement in Chinese life expectancy into mortality and composition components.
RESULTS
Improvements in mortality were observed across all regions, positively contributing to the increase in national life expectancy. However, only the most and least economically developed regions – urban-east, urban-central, and rural-west – made positive contributions through the compositional component. All other regions contributed negatively, partially offsetting the progress made by the improvement in regional mortality

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1279-1302
Number of pages	24
Journal	Demographic Research
Volume	54
Issue number	39
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.4054/DemRes.2026.54.39
Publication status	Published - Jun 2026

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title = "Life expectancy in China and the contribution of regional dynamics",

abstract = "BACKGROUND Life expectancy in China has been increasing in recent decades, but regional inequalities persist. Unbalanced regional development has resulted in large-scale population movement. Over time, the changing regional distribution of the population changes the proportion of the population exposed to different regional mortality levels. OBJECTIVE The increase in national life expectancy can be attributed to changes in both regional mortality and the regional composition of the population. We aim to quantify the respective contributions of changes in mortality and in the composition of the population. METHODS We apply a decomposition method to data from the Chinese Disease Surveillance Points system from 2010 to 2020 and disaggregate the improvement in Chinese life expectancy into mortality and composition components. RESULTS Improvements in mortality were observed across all regions, positively contributing to the increase in national life expectancy. However, only the most and least economically developed regions – urban-east, urban-central, and rural-west – made positive contributions through the compositional component. All other regions contributed negatively, partially offsetting the progress made by the improvement in regional mortality",

author = "Mengxue Chen and Wen Su and Vladimir Canudas-Romo",

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year = "2026",

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doi = "10.4054/DemRes.2026.54.39",

language = "English",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Life expectancy in China and the contribution of regional dynamics

AU - Chen, Mengxue

AU - Su, Wen

AU - Canudas-Romo, Vladimir

PY - 2026/6

Y1 - 2026/6

N2 - BACKGROUND Life expectancy in China has been increasing in recent decades, but regional inequalities persist. Unbalanced regional development has resulted in large-scale population movement. Over time, the changing regional distribution of the population changes the proportion of the population exposed to different regional mortality levels. OBJECTIVE The increase in national life expectancy can be attributed to changes in both regional mortality and the regional composition of the population. We aim to quantify the respective contributions of changes in mortality and in the composition of the population. METHODS We apply a decomposition method to data from the Chinese Disease Surveillance Points system from 2010 to 2020 and disaggregate the improvement in Chinese life expectancy into mortality and composition components. RESULTS Improvements in mortality were observed across all regions, positively contributing to the increase in national life expectancy. However, only the most and least economically developed regions – urban-east, urban-central, and rural-west – made positive contributions through the compositional component. All other regions contributed negatively, partially offsetting the progress made by the improvement in regional mortality

AB - BACKGROUND Life expectancy in China has been increasing in recent decades, but regional inequalities persist. Unbalanced regional development has resulted in large-scale population movement. Over time, the changing regional distribution of the population changes the proportion of the population exposed to different regional mortality levels. OBJECTIVE The increase in national life expectancy can be attributed to changes in both regional mortality and the regional composition of the population. We aim to quantify the respective contributions of changes in mortality and in the composition of the population. METHODS We apply a decomposition method to data from the Chinese Disease Surveillance Points system from 2010 to 2020 and disaggregate the improvement in Chinese life expectancy into mortality and composition components. RESULTS Improvements in mortality were observed across all regions, positively contributing to the increase in national life expectancy. However, only the most and least economically developed regions – urban-east, urban-central, and rural-west – made positive contributions through the compositional component. All other regions contributed negatively, partially offsetting the progress made by the improvement in regional mortality

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DO - 10.4054/DemRes.2026.54.39

M3 - Article

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EP - 1302

JO - Demographic Research

JF - Demographic Research

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ER -

Life expectancy in China and the contribution of regional dynamics

Abstract

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