Australians are living longer as study finds mixed results among wealthy nations

Belinda Tasker
Aug 16, 2018, updated Aug 16, 2018

Australians are living longer than many other wealthy populations. Photo: Getty

Australians are outliving their British and American cousins, according to a new study into the average life spans of men and women in 18 wealthy countries.

The study, published in the British Medical Journal on Thursday, found that while life expectancy is on the rise in Australia it is declining in Britain, the US and several other nations.

Australian women had a life expectancy of 85.5 years in 2016, while men could expect to lives 81.5 years, researchers at Princeton University and the University of Southern California found.

Both Australian men and women are now living more than a year longer than they were in 2010.

By comparison, British women and men have had their life expectancy dip to 82.7 years and 79 years respectively.

There’s been a similar pattern in the US, where men now live an average of 76.4 years and women for 81.4 years.

Overall, Switzerland has the longest life expectancy for men at 81.6 years, while Japanese women live to a ripe old age of 87.2 years.

Japanese people live the longest overall, with its men reaching an average of 81 years.

The researchers said while Australia’s life expectancy rates had increased uninterrupted since 2010, about 12 of the 18 OECD countries experienced an unusual simultaneous drop in 2014-15.

Saying the fall was largely the result of a severe flu season, the researchers said it was the first time in decades that so many wealthy countries experienced a decline in one year.

Most of those countries bounced back the following year, but the US and Britain did not.

The researchers suggested the opioid epidemic gripping the US could be to blame for the decline in life expectancy there, while in Britain it could be the result of higher mortality rates among the over 65s.