nzlifetables

The nzlifetables package distributes the Statistics New Zealand Cohort Life Tables spreadsheet in convenient, tidy form.

Variables

• sex
• cohort
• age Exact age (years)
• lx Number alive at exact age, out of 100,000 born
• Lx Average number alive in the age interval, out of 100,000 born
• dx Number dying in the age interval, out of 100,000 born
• px Probability that a person who reaches this age lives another year
• qx Probability that a person who reaches this age dies within a year
• mx Central death rate for the age interval
• sx Proportion of age group surviving another year
• ex Expected number of years of life remaining at age x
• projected Whether or not the statistic is a projection

Installation

# install.packages("devtools")
devtools::install_github("nacnudus/nzlifetables")

Examples

library(tidyverse)
library(nzlifetables)
theme_set(theme_minimal())

nzlifetables %>%
  mutate(year = cohort + age) %>%
  ggplot(aes(year, ex, colour = age,
             group = interaction(age, projected),
             alpha = -projected)) +
  geom_line() +
  scale_colour_viridis_c() +
  scale_alpha(range = c(.3, 1), guide = FALSE) +
  facet_wrap(~ sex) +
  ggtitle("Cohort life expectancy",
          sub = "Remaining lifespan, given age in a given year")

nzlifetables %>%
  mutate(year = cohort + age) %>%
  ggplot(aes(year, lx, colour = age,
             group = interaction(age, projected),
             alpha = -projected)) +
  geom_line() +
  scale_colour_viridis_c() +
  scale_alpha(range = c(.3, 1), guide = FALSE) +
  facet_wrap(~ sex) +
  ggtitle("Cohort life expectancy",
          sub = "Number alive at exact age in a given year, out of 100,000")

nzlifetables %>%
  mutate(year = cohort + age,
         year_of_death = year + ex) %>%
  ggplot(aes(year, year_of_death, colour = cohort,
             group = interaction(cohort, projected),
             alpha = -projected)) +
  geom_line() +
  scale_x_continuous(breaks = full_seq(c(1880, 2040), 20)) +
  scale_colour_viridis_c() +
  scale_alpha(range = c(.3, 1), guide = FALSE) +
  facet_wrap(~ sex, nrow = 1) +
  ylab("Estimated year of death") +
  ggtitle("Cohort life expectancy",
          sub = "Estimated year of death, given that a person is still alive in a given year")

nzlifetables %>%
  mutate(year = cohort + age,
         lifespan = age + ex) %>%
  ggplot(aes(year, lifespan, colour = cohort,
             group = interaction(cohort, projected),
             alpha = -projected)) +
  geom_line() +
  scale_x_continuous(breaks = full_seq(c(1880, 2040), 20)) +
  scale_colour_viridis_c() +
  scale_alpha(range = c(.3, 1), guide = FALSE) +
  facet_wrap(~ sex, nrow = 1) +
  ylab("Estimated lifespan") +
  ggtitle("Cohort life expectancy",
          sub = "Estimated lifespan, given that a person is still alive in a given year")

nzlifetables %>%
  mutate(lifespan = age + ex) %>%
  ggplot(aes(age, lifespan, colour = cohort,
             group = interaction(cohort, projected),
             alpha = -projected)) +
  geom_line() +
  geom_abline(intercept = 0, slope = 1) +
  scale_x_continuous(breaks = full_seq(c(0, 100), 10)) +
  scale_colour_viridis_c() +
  scale_alpha(range = c(.3, 1), guide = FALSE) +
  facet_wrap(~ sex, nrow = 1) +
  ylab("Estimated lifespan") +
  ggtitle("Cohort life expectancy",
          sub = "Estimated lifespan, given that a person is still alive at a given age")

nzlifetables %>%
  ggplot(aes(age, qx, colour = cohort,
             group = interaction(cohort, projected),
             alpha = -projected)) +
  geom_line() +
  scale_x_continuous(breaks = full_seq(c(0, 100), 10)) +
  scale_colour_viridis_c() +
  scale_alpha(range = c(.3, 1), guide = FALSE) +
  facet_wrap(~ sex, nrow = 1) +
  ylab("Probabilitiy of dying with a year") +
  ggtitle("Cohort life expectancy",
          sub = "Probability of dying, given that a person is still alive at a given age")

nzlifetables %>%
  ggplot(aes(age, lx, colour = cohort,
             group = interaction(cohort, projected),
             alpha = -projected)) +
  geom_line() +
  scale_x_continuous(breaks = full_seq(c(0, 100), 10)) +
  scale_colour_viridis_c() +
  scale_alpha(range = c(.3, 1), guide = FALSE) +
  facet_wrap(~ sex, nrow = 1) +
  ylab("Number still alive at given age") +
  ggtitle("Cohort life expectancy",
          sub = "Number still alive at a given age, out of 100,000")

Other New Zealand datasets by the same author:

• nzpullover -- road policing statistics, updated quarterly.
• nzcensus2013 -- summary statistics from the 2013 New Zealand census
• nzbabynames -- the top 100 baby names annually since 1954, and annual birth statistics.