In 2017, the remaining average life expectancy at 30 years was 51.0 years among women and 48.3 years among men in the group with compulsory education. In the group with secondary education, remaining average life expectancy was 3.5 years higher, 54.5 years for women and 52.5 years for men. In the group with post-secondary education, remaining average life expectancy was 2.5 years higher than among those with secondary education, 57.0 years for women and 54.3 years for men. Between 2012 and 2017, average life expectancy at both 30 years and 65 years increased most among those with post-secondary education and the least among those with compulsory education. At 30 years, the gap between these groups has increased from 5.2 to 6.0 years for women and from 5.0 to 6.0 years for men.

Life expectancy for single persons with no post-secondary education remained the same

At 65 years, differences in remaining average life expectancy are roughly the same or larger, by both education level and type of household, compared with differences between the sexes. Gaps between the sexes have narrowed over time, while gaps between groups with different education levels continue to widen. However, development among groups with different education levels vary depending on type of household. In the period 2012–2017, average life expectancy increased most for persons in the group with post-secondary education who were also cohabiting. During this period, average life expectancy also increased among those with secondary education and compulsory education who were also cohabiting. However, after 2014–2015, there is no visible increase in the number of years remaining in groups of persons who were single. Among single persons with a secondary education, the number of years remaining remained roughly the same in 2016–2017 as in 2012–2013, and among single persons with compulsory education the number of years remaining had even decreased slightly.

There is some variation in the number of remaining years of life expectancy at 30 years among counties. The variation between counties is largest in the group with compulsory education, slightly smaller among those with secondary education and least among those with post-secondary education. In the group with compulsory education, those living in Halland County had the highest number of remaining years, 51.3 years, and those living in Västernorrland County had the lowest number of remaining years, 47.9 years. Among those with secondary education, those living in Kronoberg County had the highest number of remaining years, 54.1 year, and those living in Västernorrland County had the lowest number of remaining years, 51.8 years. In the group with post-secondary education, the number of remaining years was highest in Jönköping County, 55.9 years. In this group, those living in Västernorrland County also had the lowest number of remaining years, 54.2 years.

Significance of diminished share of those with compulsory education unclear

A reason that is often cited with regard to growing gaps in remaining average life expectancy between groups with different educational levels, and in particular with regard to the group with compulsory education lagging behind groups with a higher level of education, is that the share of the population with no more than compulsory education is declining in all ages. This may mean that an increasingly large share of the group with compulsory education has poorer health. This can be checked by looking at the differences in remaining average life expectancy among counties in the group with compulsory education. A variation in average life expectancy between counties among those with compulsory education could then be explained by the size of the group's share compared with the county population. Relatively seen, the group with compulsory education would seem to have a higher average life expectancy in counties with a high share of those with compulsory education than in counties with a low share of those with compulsory education.

However, a comparison of counties' variation in the share of those with compulsory education and the number of remaining years at age 30 among those with compulsory education did not yield any link at all for women, and a weak link for men. This indicates that there are likely more factors, other than the size of the group in the population, which contribute to variation in average life expectancy in a group between counties and over time. Example of such factors are differences in behaviour, income, social networks, and outcomes of healthcare.