July 22, 2009
Japan maintains the world record for life expectancy
| The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) announced on July 16th that the Japanese life span in 2008 was 86.05 years for women and 79.29 years for men, the highest ever recorded for three consecutive years. The average life expectancy in 2008 increased by 0.10 years for men and 0.06 years for women compared to 2007. Hong Kong was the second longest of 85.5 years and the third was France of 84.3. The first place for men was Iceland of 79.6 years. According to MHLW, the high life expectancy is due to a decline in the death rate caused by cancer, heart disease and stroke, thanks to improving medical standards. Even though the average life expectancy has continued to rise, “lifestyle-related illnesses" like diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity have been increasing. |
