For the third consecutive year, the average life expectancy at birth for Canadians decreased, from 81.6 years in 2021 to 81.3 years last year.

Data extracted by Statistics Canada from the Canadian Vital Statistics Database showed that the decrease of 0.3 years in 2022 was larger than the decrease of 0.1 years in 2021.

Last year, the decline in average life expectancy at birth was 0.4 years for women and 0.2 years for men.

Here are the top 10 causes of death in Canada (2022):

Malignant tumors

Heart disease

COVID-19

Accidents

Cerebrovascular diseases

Chronic lower respiratory diseases

Diabetes

Influenza and pneumonia

Alzheimer's disease

Chronic liver diseases and cirrhosis

A decrease was observed in six provinces...

Regional observations also showed that life expectancy declined in Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, and Manitoba.

In contrast, in Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia, significant decreases were observed from 2020 to 2021, while the average life expectancy at birth essentially remained unchanged from 2021 to 2022.

According to the federal statistics agency, life expectancy increases when there are fewer deaths overall, or when deaths tend to occur at older ages, or a combination of both. Life expectancy decreases when there are more deaths, or deaths occur at younger ages, or a combination of both.

Specifically, the federal agency pointed out that the number of deaths due to COVID-19 rose from 14,466 in 2021 to 19,716 last year. This is the highest number of deaths recorded since the beginning of the pandemic.

This number was particularly high in the Atlantic region of the country, where the COVID-19 death rate in 2022 was more than seven times higher than in 2021.

At the same time, although cancer and cardiovascular diseases remained the two leading causes of death in Canada last year, they accounted for 41.8% of deaths, down from 44.3% in 2021.