The Republic Institute of Statistics has published detailed tables mortality for Serbia, for the period from 2021 to 2023.
It turned out that Serbia is among the European countries with the shortest lifespan.
The average life expectancy in the EU countries in 2022 was 80,6 years, and Serbia is behind - that is, in a hurry - by a little more than 5 years.
Life expectancy in Serbia is 74,8 years for the total population, which represents an increase of 0,3 years compared to the period from 2010 to 2011.
Observed by gender, life expectancy is 72,3 years for men and 77,5 years for women. Compared to the period from 2010 to 2012, an increase of 0,3 years was recorded for men and 0,4 years for women, while the difference in average life expectancy of 5,2 years in favor of women was maintained.
How long will today's fresh retirees live?
RZS also publishes expectations of how long people who are of retirement age today, that is 65 years old, will live on average.
People aged 65 are expected to live an average of 15,2 more years. Men in Serbia at the age of 65 can expect an average of 13,8 more years of life, while the life expectancy of women of the same age is 16,4 years.
At the area level, the lowest life expectancy at the age of 65 was recorded in the North Banat area and is 12,5 years for men and 15,4 years for women.
Men in the Zlatibor region have the longest life expectancy at the age of 65 and it is 15 years, while the longest life expectancy for women is in the Belgrade region, where it is 17,2 years.
The periodicity of creating detailed tables is ten years, after each population census.
Old people reduced to a "thing"
Although the average life expectancy is slightly longer, life itself is more difficult. Analysis of the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality on the position old she showed that, "a considerable number of the elderly live in poverty or are at risk of becoming poor, some are exposed to abuse and neglect, self-neglect, disrespect, marginalization, and reduction to the point".
They are discriminated against based on their financial status, disability, place of residence or gender.
Although pensioners make up a third of the electorate, according to data from the "Nezavisnost" trade union, their influence on the political decision-making process is completely marginalized.
In society, there are dominant stereotypes and prejudices about the inability of the elderly to make rational decisions and disrespect for their autonomy, but also other stereotypes such as those that the elderly are incompetent, a burden on society and a burden.
Difficult to health care
As a result of depopulation and migration, certain health institutions, especially primary health care (health stations and clinics) in rural areas of Serbia are closed, which leads to a difficult availability of these services to the rural, mostly elderly population. Home care and assistance services in these areas are also rarely established due to the small number of inhabitants and the sparseness of the area.
Integrated services at the local level, which include help for geronto-housewives, palliative care and care for patients in the terminal stages of the disease, are not sufficiently developed, there are not enough geriatric beds and opportunities for institutional care of these people.
President of the Gerontological Association of Serbia Nataša Todorović said previously for Vreme that because of this, mobile teams of doctors, social workers and other professional staff will be needed.
"We proposed that when medicine is finished, there is a mandatory internship of one year, which would be outside the cities," said Todorovic.
The "Vremena" interviewee also pointed to the problem of labor migration from Serbia to Western Europe.
"Our nurses and carers are leaving. Although ninety percent of services come from family members, so we rely on them, they are not an infinite resource either. Because you have a change in family structure, people have children later, they decide to have one child," said Todorovic.
Expected increase in poverty
According to data from the aforementioned analysis by the Center for Democracy, the estimated poverty rate of the elderly in 2022 was over 12 percent, which is almost twice as high compared to the level before the crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic and rising inflation due to the war in Ukraine, while, according to projections, the researcher expects further growth in the absolute and relative poverty of the elderly in the coming years.
According to the PIO fund, last year the average pension was about 37.800 dinars, while slightly more than one and a half million people receive pensions.
Almost half a million pensioners have incomes lower than guaranteed, that is, less than 24.987 dinars.
As many as 61 thousand pensioners have incomes of up to ten thousand dinars, according to the Union of Pensioners "Nezavisnost".
