Insee Première · December 2025 · n° 2085

From 2012‑2016 to 2020‑2024, the gap in life expectancy between low‑income and high‑income individuals widened

The higher the income, the higher the life expectancy. Over the period 2020‑2024, the gap in life expectancy at birth between the poorest 5% and the wealthiest 5% was 9 years for women and 13 years for men. Women in the wealthiest 5% lived, on average, 17 years longer than men in the poorest 5%.

At age 50, for men, the risk of dying within the year was 7 times greater among the poorest than among the wealthiest. For women, this risk ratio peaked at 6 at age 55.

Life expectancy increased less and less rapidly with the standard of living: at around 1,200 euros per month, an additional 100 euros in standard of living was associated with an extra 0.8 years of life expectancy for women and 1.0 years for men; the gain was only 0.1 years and 0.2 years at around 3,000 euros per month.

Between the periods 2012‑2016 and 2020‑2024, the gap in life expectancy between low‑income and high‑income individuals widened. Life expectancy for the poorest 25% declined, except for the 5% with the lowest standard of living; at the same time, life expectancy for higher‑income individuals increased.

For a given gender, age and standard of living, people lived the longest in the Pays de la Loire and Occitanie regions, and the shortest in the Hauts‑de‑France region.