The life expectancy of people in Ireland has increased significantly in recent decades, with much of this increase due to big reductions in major causes of deaths, such as cancer, the Department of Health has said.

It has published a new report, Health in Ireland - Key Trends 2019, which shows that Irish people are continuing to live longer, adding an average of three months per year to life expectancy over the past decade.

According to the report, Irish women's life expectancy was 84 years in 2017, up from 82.1 years in 2007 and 78.7 years in 1997. Men's life expectancy was 80.4 years in 2017, compared to 77.3 years in 2007 and 73.4 years in 1997.

The report noted that the life expectancy gap between men and women has narrowed from 5.3 years in 1997 to 3.6 years in 2017, and is now at its lowest since the 1950s.

It also noted that Irish people are living longer than their European counterparts. Female life expectancy in Ireland has been similar to the EU average over the period 2008-2017 and is now just above it, while male life expectancy in Ireland has been above the EU average over the last decade.

This increase in life expectancy is due to big reductions in major causes of death, including cancer and diseases of the circulatory system, such as heart disease and stroke. There has also been an almost 40% reduction in mortality rates from suicide since 2009.

The report pointed out that the number of live births has been falling every year since 2009, with 61,016 births registered in 2018. However, Ireland's fertility rate is still the third highest in the EU, behind France and Sweden.

Meanwhile, the report also revealed that men in Ireland are more likely to be overweight or obese than women, however women are more likely to be physically inactive.

Other keys figures contained in the report include:
-Public hospitals are now treating more patients and admitted patients are older. In 2018, 54% of inpatients and 40% of day cases were aged 65 or older, compared to 48% of inpatients and 35% of day cases in 2009
-Some 32.4% of the population had a medical card at the end of 2018 compared with 33.8% in 2009
-The total number of people on outpatient waiting lists classified as active increased to over 563,000 in November 2019
-The number of people registered for the Drugs Payments Scheme fell by 24% between 2009 and 2018, while the number on the Long-Term Illness Scheme has increased by 107% since 2009
-In September 2019, there were 119,126 whole time equivalents employed in the public health service, a 1.1% increase since December 2018. There were 3.07 practicing doctors per 1,000 of the population in Ireland in 2017, which is below the OECD28 average of 3.40 per 1,000.

The report was welcomed by the Minister for Health, Simon Harris, who said that it "gives us the opportunity to assess the performance of the Irish health system and reflect on the health status of our people".

"It highlights where things are going well and where we need to improve. It also shows the importance of good quality data to health professionals and policy makers alike in providing a high-quality health service for our population as we implement Sláintecare," he commented.

The report can be viewed here.