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Zero-Shot Forecasting Mortality Rates: A Global Study

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  • Gabor Petnehazi
  • Laith Al Shaggah
  • Jozsef Gall
  • Bernadett Aradi

Abstract

This study explores the potential of zero-shot time series forecasting, an innovative approach leveraging pre-trained foundation models, to forecast mortality rates without task-specific fine-tuning. We evaluate two state-of-the-art foundation models, TimesFM and CHRONOS, alongside traditional and machine learning-based methods across three forecasting horizons (5, 10, and 20 years) using data from 50 countries and 111 age groups. In our investigations, zero-shot models showed varying results: while CHRONOS delivered competitive shorter-term forecasts, outperforming traditional methods like ARIMA and the Lee-Carter model, TimesFM consistently underperformed. Fine-tuning CHRONOS on mortality data significantly improved long-term accuracy. A Random Forest model, trained on mortality data, achieved the best overall performance. These findings underscore the potential of zero-shot forecasting while highlighting the need for careful model selection and domain-specific adaptation.

Suggested Citation

  • Gabor Petnehazi & Laith Al Shaggah & Jozsef Gall & Bernadett Aradi, 2025. "Zero-Shot Forecasting Mortality Rates: A Global Study," Papers 2505.13521, arXiv.org.
    • Handle: RePEc:arx:papers:2505.13521
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    References listed on IDEAS

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