The average age at death for islanders last year was 79 years – an increase of 12 years since 1960.

The average age at death for women in Jersey increased by 10 years between 1960 and 2024 (from 72 to 82 years), while the average death age for men has increased by 15 years over the same period (from 62 to 77 years).

The figures were recently published in the Jersey Mortality Report 2024, which records all deaths that occurred in the island during 2024, and their distribution by age, sex, location, and cause of death.

Express took a look at the key figures…

Last year, 860 islanders were recorded as having died, which was 20 deaths fewer than the 880 recorded in 2023.

Of the 860 recorded deaths, 430 deaths were males, and 430 deaths were females.

Male deaths decreased by 40 and female deaths increased by 20 compared to 2023.

There were 130 deaths of individuals of working age (aged 16-64 years), of whom around 62% were male.

There were 270 premature deaths (occurring before 75 years of age), which accounted for 31% of deaths in 2024. Of these premature deaths, 56% were male.

The age-standardised mortality rate for Jersey was 782 per 100,000 population, which is statistically similar to each annual age-standardised mortality rate for Jersey since 2017, and significantly lower than the age-standardised mortality rate for England (965 per 100,000) and Wales (1,054 per 100,000) in 2023.

The age-standardised mortality rate for males (939 per 100,000) was significantly higher than that for females (659 per 100,000).

Approximately one in three (34%) deaths occurred in a hospital, one in five (20%) in Jersey Hospice; one in six in a private home (17%), one in seven in a nursing home (15%) and just over one in ten (12%) were in a residential or personal care setting.

The two main causes of death – neoplasms and diseases of the circulatory system – have remained the same since 2007. These two causes accounted for 58% of all deaths in 2024.

Coronary heart disease was the leading cause of death. Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease was the second leading cause of death, accounting for 10% of all deaths, the same proportion as the previous three years.

Just under one in five (20%) deaths in Jersey were from causes considered avoidable (170 deaths overall). Male deaths comprised 60% of these deaths.

Males who died from avoidable causes accounted for 4,485 standardised years of life lost per 100,000 deaths, compared with 3,311 years lost among females.