There are biological considerations as well, and men' bodies often give out faster.

Birth rates and death rates are only loosely correlated. The drivers for each are different, so the numbers can at times have significant divergence. For example, Albania reports a death rate of 5.7 but a birthrate of 24.7. Both of these figures our outliers for the Eastern Europe group, giving Albania a very large spread compared with the other nations, and figures more akin to a developing nation.

There is a much stronger correlation between both birth rates and death rates and GNP. Nations with a low GNP tend to have higher figures for both birth and death rates. Those with a high GNP will tend to have lower birth and death rates. GNP contributes to death rates in a couple of ways. One is that wealthier nations tend to have better access to health care and...
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