Europe's news in English

COPY LINK

MEDICINE

Life expectancy: Swiss set to live longer and prosper

One in four girls born in Switzerland in 2017 could live to be 100 while one in eight boys born in that year could reach the same milestone, according to data published on Thursday.

Published: 25 April 2019 21:00 CEST

Life expectancy: Swiss set to live longer and prosper

File photo: Depositphotos

The new age modelling published by the Swiss Federal Statistics Office (FSO) highlights the increasing life expectancy of Switzerland.

Under the model, boys born in Switzerland in 2017 are projected to live an average 81.4 years. For girls, that figure is 85.4 years.

That is up from the 76.3 years for men and 82.1 years for women projected for people born in 1997.

A century of huge rises

From 1876 to 1917, Swiss life expectancy jumped from 43 to 63 for men and from 47 to 70 for women. A drop in infant mortality and deaths from infectious diseases were responsible for these increases, according to the FSO.

Life expectancy increases from 1917 to 1967 can be put down to a drop in deaths from cardiovascular diseases, especially among older people, the stats office said.

According to World Health Organization (WHO) figures from 2015, Swiss men had the longest life expectancy in the world (81.3 years for boys born in 2015) while Swiss women came sixth with a projected life expectancy of 85.3 years.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.

Become a Member to leave a comment.

In which parts of Spain do people live longest?

Life expectancy in Spain is the highest in the EU. Photo: ANDER GILLENEA/AFP

People in Spain are forecast to have the longest life expectancy in the world by 2040 – with a projected average lifespan of nearly 85.8 years.

It’s hard to fully understand the Spanish secret to a long life, but according to the scientists it’s a combination of their Mediterranean diet, a good healthcare system, plenty of walking, a close-knit society and a helpful serving of hedonism. If they cut down on drinking and smoking, Spaniards could no doubt live even longer.

READ MORE:

The current life expectancy in Spain has dropped from 84 down to 82.4 in large part due to the coronavirus pandemic, but new data revealed by Spain’s National Statistics Institute (INE) reveals where exactly in Spain people lived the longest in 2018, in normal times before the virus.

The six municipalities where people live longest in Spain are all in the Madrid region.

The highest life expectancy in the whole country is that of the residents of Pozuelo de Alarcón with an average of 86.2 years.

Pozuelo is also the wealthiest municipality in the capital and in Spain according to INE stats with average net yearly earnings of €28,326 per inhabitant, which suggests that the higher standard of living is also helping people live longer in Pozuelo.

The other Madrid region municipalities where people reach 85 years of age or more on average are Majadahonda (85.9 years), Alcorcón (85.4 years), Las Rozas (85.3 years) and Alcobendas (85.3 years), all of which are relatively wealthy residential parts of Madrid, with the exception of Alcorcón.

In sixth place is another Madrid municipality, San Sebastián de los Reyes (84.8 years), followed by Getxo in Bilbao (84.7), then two more Madrid municipalities – Leganés (84.5) and Getafe (84.4) – followed by Sant Cugat del Vallès, the only Barcelona municipality to make the top ten.

Table showing the municipalities with the highest and lowest life expectancy in Spain. Source: INE

What exactly is behind people in Madrid living longer than in other parts of Spain?

The stressful life in the capital, the higher levels of air pollution and reported cuts to public health spending in the region in recent years could all contribute to the assumption that big city life takes its toll on life expectancy.

In other places around the globe where people live longest, such as Okinawa in Japan and Italy’s Corsica (both islands), an active and social life in less stressful rural settings are thought to contribute to making many locals live past 90.

But in Spain it seems that adding those extra years to an already long and healthy life could be influenced by income. That’s perfectly evidenced in countries with large rich-poor divides such as the US.

The places with the lowest life expectancy in Spain – which at its very lowest is a very reasonable 79.7 years of age – are mainly lower-income coastal locations with milder climates in the Canary Islands and Andalusia, including cities such as Malaga, Almería, Cádiz, Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (see table above).

So maybe there’s something about the hustle and bustle of the capital that keeps Madrileños enjoying life that little bit longer. According to Spanish fact-checking website maldita.es, the stats should have included the high death rate in the capital during the pandemic.

Either way, wherever it is in Spain, people tend to live longer than anywhere else in the EU, and by 2040 their life expectancy will be the highest in the world.

It’s certainly a factor to consider if you’re thinking of moving here, España might just keep you alive for longer.

READ MORE:

Url copied to clipboard!