Tokyo: The life expectancy of Japanese men stood at 80.21 years in 2013, the first time that men have gone past the 80-year mark in the Asian country, according to the country’s ministry of health, labour and welfare.
The data, reported on Friday by national broadcaster NHK, reveals a rise of 0.27 years compared to 2012.
At the same time, life expectancy among Japanese women is 86.61 years, once again the highest in the world.
For 26 consecutive years until 2010, Japanese women had the highest life expectancy in the world. However, in 2011 and 2012, they were overtaken by the women of Hong Kong, mainly due to the large number of deaths, more than 20,000, caused by the earthquake and subsequent tsunami that devastated northeastern Japan on March 11, 2011.
The published data also place Japanese men fourth on the world’s longevity list, behind those from Hong Kong, Iceland and Switzerland. The figures for this year show a 0.07 year reduction in the difference between the life expectancy of Japanese men and women to 6.40 years.
IANS
