New developments in the computation of mortality rates: An actuary’s bread and butter

National mortality tables typically inform mortality improvement assumptions for all companies. Even companies that do not use sophisticated mortality and longevity risk modelling techniques are implicitly affected by the new developments in relation to the construction of national mortality tables. This briefing notes provides a closer look at the relevance of national mortality tables, the problems with them and the corrections available in order to enhance mortality and longevity risk models.