Taipei:If deaths from cancer were excluded, Taiwan's average life expectancy in 2025 would rise by 3.7 years, as reported by the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) on Saturday.

According to Focus Taiwan, the MOI calculated life expectancy by excluding deaths from the ten leading causes of death in 2025 and comparing the results with the overall average. This analysis revealed that cancer has a significant impact on life expectancy. The Ministry of Health and Welfare statistics identified these leading causes as cancer, heart disease, pneumonia, cerebrovascular disease, diabetes, hypertensive diseases, accidents, nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis, chronic lower respiratory diseases, and suicide.

The MOI noted that cancer has been the leading cause of death in Taiwan for 44 consecutive years, accounting for 54,838 deaths, or 27.48% of all deaths in 2025. Taiwan's average life expectancy was 81.27 years in 2025, but it could have increased to 84.97 years if cancer deaths were excluded.

Additionally, excluding deaths from heart disease and pneumonia would have raised life expectancy by 1.54 years and 1.13 years, respectively. The gap between average life expectancy and the figure calculated excluding cancer deaths narrowed from 4.10 years in 2015 to 3.70 years in 2025, indicating a slight easing of cancer's impact on life expectancy.

The MOI also highlighted that men lost more years of life than women to most of the leading causes of death, except for diabetes, hypertensive diseases, and kidney diseases. Men lost 0.75 years of life expectancy to accidental injuries, compared to 0.36 years for women, with differences potentially linked to factors such as occupation, physiological factors, diet and health care, or lifestyle habits. The MOI's statistics provide insights into how various causes of death affect life expectancy, with further information available on the ministry's website under the "Statistics" section.