Definition: Probability of dying

Category: Demography

The probability that a woman or man of a given exact age will die during the period in question. In the case of annual probabilities, the denominator is the size of the generation of women (or men) who reach age n during the year in question, and the numerator is the number of women (or men) from this generation who die between age n an age n+1. Some of the deaths occur during the year in question, while other deaths occur the following year. The annual probability of dying by age therefore differs from the annual death rate by age because, in the latter case, the denominator is the average population of that age and the numerator is the number of persons of that age who die during the year (the age used can be either the age reached during the year or the age at last birthday). http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/ramon/statmanuals/files/KS-CC-03-005-EN.pdf