Which measure represents the average number of years of life that the population could expect if current death rates were to remain constant?

• A. Infant mortality
• B. Longevity
• C. Life expectancy
• D. Globalization

Answer: (C)

Life expectancy is the average number of years a person is expected to live if current death rates continue. It comes from life tables that apply age-specific death rates across the population, giving a single summary of how long people live on average under present mortality conditions. If those death rates don’t change, newborns would be expected to reach roughly that average age.

Infant mortality is about deaths of babies under one year and doesn’t describe the overall average lifespan of the population. Longevity is a general term for length of life but isn’t a formal statistic in itself. Globalization is unrelated to how long people live.