Aussies score bronze in the global life-expectancy stakes
Despite a dip linked to COVID-19, we are living longer lives than most of our neighbours.
First the good news. Australians are living to an average age of 84.53 years, which puts us third in the world longevity stakes.
The average is 83.17 years for men and 85.84 for women.
Topping the global list is Monaco followed by Japan, but there’s not much in it and Australian seniors shouldn’t feel hard done by. On average, the Monegasque reach 85.95 and the Japanese 84.78.
That’s according to United Nations data. Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures are a little different, and a tad disturbing.
According to the ABS, life expectancy here decreased in 2020-2022 for the first time since the mid 1990s.
Life expectancy at birth for males is 81.2 years and 85.3 years for females, a decrease of 0.1 years for both.
Back to the good news: over the past decade, life expectancy increased by 1.3 years for males and 1.0 years for females. Most new babies in Australia today are expected to live into the 22nd century.
Blame COVID-19 for the dip. The ABS findings are the first time that deaths across all three years of the pandemic have been used in calculating life expectancy.
The first two years of the pandemic had the two lowest mortality rates on record from all causes.
However, in 2022 the number of deaths increased by 20,000, with close to 10,000 of those deemed due to COVID-19. The wave of deaths came as the omicron variant hit Australia just as the country reopened to the world.
The ABS head of demography, Beidar Cho, said the overall drop was not cause for alarm, given Australia’s high life expectancy ranking compared to other countries.
“Despite slightly lower life expectancy in Australia, it’s still higher than before the pandemic and continues to be one of the highest in the world,” she said.
When it comes to a breakdown of states and territories, the ACT continues to have the highest life expectancy at 82.2 for males and 86 for females.
Among the states, Western Australia has the highest life expectancy, followed by Victoria. Northern Territory has the lowest life expectancy of 76.2 for males and 80.7 for females.
In general, life expectancy is higher in cities than in regional areas and, according to the ABS, people living in the Sydney suburbs of Baulkham Hills and Hawkesbury have the highest life expectancy for men (85.7 years), while North Sydney and Hornsby have the highest for females (88.2).
Life expectancy for all states and territories is available here.
By the way, if you are approaching or already older than the life expectancy, don’t panic. It’s an average that accounts for people who die young as well as those who live healthy happy lives into their 90s and beyond.
Once you have reached senior status, you have already dodged many of the “bullets” that account for early deaths.
Further reading: ABS, AFR, SBS
