HIGHLIGHTS:
- Average life expectancy in Australia has decreased for men and women over the past 12 months.
- The Australian Bureau of Statistics assures that this is due to the increase in deaths caused by COVID-19.
- Australia has the fourth highest life expectancy in the world.
Australia’s life expectancy from birth has fallen slightly again for a second year and has fallen in global rankings.The life expectancy of an Australian girl born today is 85.1 years; while for a child it is 81.1 years, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures published last week.This represents a small decrease of 0.2 years for women and 0.1 for men compared to figures published 12 months ago.The 2023 figures showed a drop of 0.1 years for both sexes.
A 60-year-old Australian man can expect to live another 24.2 years and a woman another 27.1 years, which exceeds life expectancy at birth because the first decades of life are more difficult to survive.
Where does Australia stand on global life expectancy?
Australia has the fourth highest life expectancy at birth among OECD countries, tied with Spain at 83.2 years.Previously, Australia was ranked third above Spain.
Japan, with 84.1 years, has the highest rate, followed by Switzerland with 83.7 and South Korea with 83.6.
Source: SBS
Life expectancy in all OECD countries fell slightly as a result of the pandemic. The average now is 81 years.Life expectancy at birth increased in high-income countries by approximately 30 years between 1900 and 2000.However, since 1990, overall improvements in life expectancy have slowed, according to a recent analysis published in the journal Nature.
The article predicts that the French are the most likely to live to be 100, with an 8 percent chance, while Australians have a 2 to 3 percent chance of living to be 100.
Why has life expectancy decreased?
According to the ABS, life expectancy data has been affected by excess deaths caused by the COVID-19 pandemic that began in 2020.ABS head of demographics Beidar Cho said: “The years 2021-2023 saw the highest number of COVID-19 deaths with 15,982 in Australia, representing an increase of 4,100 on 2020-2022.“Despite the decline, Australians still have a higher life expectancy than many comparable countries, such as New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Canada.”The only region in Australia where life expectancy has increased in the past 12 months was in the Northern Territory, where life expectancy for women increased by 1.2 years to 80.4 years. For men, it increased 1.5 years to 76.4 years.However, the Northern Territory has the lowest life expectancy for both men and women.
The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) has the highest at 85.7 for women and 81.7 for men, followed by Western Australia at 85.7 for women and 81.7 for men .
What do we know about the life expectancy of young people?
The life expectancy of people under 50 appears to be stagnating at a more worrying rate than that of older people, according to research recently published by scientists Sergey Timonin and Tim Adair.Australians born between 1930 and 1960 are likely to live longer than those in a non-English-speaking comparison group and all other English-speaking countries, they wrote in the journal The Conversation.The comparison group consisted of the average of 14 other high-income, low-mortality countries in Western Europe (such as France and Norway), plus Japan.But Australians born since the 1970s had a lower life expectancy than the comparison group.This means that, overall, life expectancy at birth in Australia is higher than the average for the non-English speaking group. However, when breaking down the information by age, the results show a clear distinction between life expectancy and time of birth.The authors suggest that real improvements could be achieved through measures that reduce inequality and structural disadvantages that lead to poor health outcomes, such as improving access to education and job and housing security, supporting mental health and safety in the use of medications, and addressing diseases such as obesity and diabetes.
