Lebensdauerbreite

Lebensdauerbreite is a German-language demographic and actuarial term that refers to the distributional width or dispersion of lifespans within a population. Rather than describing average length of life, it captures how concentrated or dispersed ages at death are around central tendency measures such as life expectancy.

Measurement approaches for Lebensdauerbreite are drawn from statistics and demography. Common indicators include the standard deviation or variance of ages at death, interquartile range, Gini coefficient applied to lifespans, and specialized demography measures such as life disparity (e-dagger). Choice of measure depends on whether emphasis is on overall variability, inequality, or the contribution of deaths at particular ages.

Interpreting Lebensdauerbreite complements interpretation of life expectancy: a low breadth indicates mortality compression (many deaths clustered near older ages), while a high breadth reflects a wide range of ages at death and greater uncertainty about individual lifespan. Historical declines in infant and young-adult mortality typically reduce breadth, but shifts in old-age mortality and coexisting inequalities can produce different trends.

Determinants include epidemiological transitions, socioeconomic inequality, healthcare access, lifestyle factors, and catastrophic events such as epidemics or wars. Analysts use Lebensdauerbreite in public health, social policy, pension design, and mortality forecasting to assess population health inequality and the predictability of lifespan.

Related concepts include life expectancy, lifespan inequality, mortality compression, and measures of premature mortality. The term is primarily descriptive and interpreted in the context of demographic and policy objectives.