Does a gmail account will be ever deleted? do you know google will remove or flag unused gmail emails address ?
Always remember to check your email ( at lest login once in few months). If you do not check your email for consecutive 9 months, looks like Google will permanently delete your account. Your account is dormant after 6 months. After that you have 90 days to log in, after that system may delete your account. You can still receive mail if your address is dormant, but you need to log in to keep your account active.
From Wikipedia
The Gmail system flags as dormant every Gmail account which remains inactive for six months. After a further three months, for a total of nine months dormancy, the system may delete such accounts.
Yahoo! Mail deactivates dormant accounts after four months, while Hotmail matches Gmail’s nine months