Studies life expectancy worldwide has risen by about six years

People live longer, but also spend more years in illness
Thanks to medical progress, people are getting older and older. An international researcher recently found an increase in global life expectancy of 6.2 years from 1990 to 2013. However, a comparison of countries shows that life span varies widely. While Japanese born in 2013 bring a staggering 83.3 years, life expectancy in Lesotho, Africa is only 48.3 years.

Life expectancy has increased in most countries
The average life expectancy of a person born in 2013 is 71.5 years. For the 1990 vintage it is only 65.3 years. This is reported by an international research team in the journal "The Lancet". According to the researchers, life expectancy has developed "significantly and positively" in most countries during this period.

Average life expectancy has increased worldwide in recent decades. (Image: Syda Productions / fotolia.com)

"The world has made great progress in terms of health. Now is the challenge to find more effective ways to prevent or treat the root causes of illness and disability, "said Theo Voss of the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation..

As part of their investigation, the researchers evaluated data from 188 countries. They found that there are big differences in life expectancy. For example, a Japanese born in 2013 averages 83.3 years, while people in Lesotho, Africa only reach 48.3 years. Even between neighboring countries, people's life expectancy is sometimes very different. In Thailand, it is 75 years, while in Laos it is only 65.8 years.

People live longer despite illnesses
The researchers also found that not only life expectancy is increasing, but also the number of years that people live with illness or physical restriction. Thus, calculations have shown that the expected period in health has risen from 56.9 years in 1990 to 62.3 years in 2013. Although life expectancy has increased worldwide by 6.2 years, only 5.4 years are expected in health. Cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases, strokes, back pain and traffic accidents are the main reasons for this, with men suffering much more frequently than women. On the other hand, they are much more affected by depression than men.

In Germany, the average life expectancy of people born in 2013 is 80.7 years and the healthy life expectancy is 68.8 years. Back problems in particular cause problems for the Germans. (Ag)