Life expectancy continues to increase. Thus, all countries combined, a little girl born in 2012 can expect to live until 73 years old and a little boy until 68 years old, six years longer than their elders, born in 1990. But this average life expectancy hides inevitably some disparities that the World Health Organization (WHO) has just revealed in its annual statistics on world health.
Life expectancy on the rise in poor countries
The good news that emerges from these statistics is that life expectancy has risen sharply in poor countries over the past twelve years. In Liberia, it went from 42 to 62 years old, in Ethiopia from 45 to 64 years old, in Cambodia from 54 to 72 years old and in East Timor from 50 to 66 years old. “One of the main reasons life expectancy has increased so much is that fewer children are dying before their 5th birthday,” said WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan.
But the difference remains significant between the rich countries and the poor countries. A boy born in 2012 in a rich country can expect to live to be 76, 16 years longer than a boy born in a poor country in the same year. A girl born in 2012 in a poor country has a life expectancy of 63 years, while one born in a rich country can expect to live to be 82 years old.
The French in the “top ten”
At the very top of this pyramid of life expectancy, we find Iceland for men (they live there on average up to 81.2 years) and Japan for women (they live there on average up to 87 years old). France appears in 6th position among women (they can hope to reach the average age of 84.9 years) behind Japan, Spain, Switzerland, Singapore and Italy.
On the other hand, France does not appear in the men’s top ten since the men who live the longest are found in Iceland, Switzerland, Australia and Israel.
“In rich countries, the gain in life expectancy is explained by the fact that fewer men and women die there before their sixtieth birthday, following attacks or heart diseases”. The reduction in tobacco consumption is also a factor that explains why we are living longer than in 1990.
