Japanese world‘s longest-lived people in 2001

TOKYO – Japanese were the world‘s longest-lived people in 2001 as their average lifespan grew even further, with the country‘s women outdistancing their foreign counterparts for the 17th straight year, the government said. The news, though good on the face of it, highlights Japan‘s growing problem of a rapidly ageing society in which senior citizens are expected to make up 25 percent of the population by 2020, pressuring social security and pension programmes.

The average lifespan for women hit 84,93 years, up by 0,33 years from 2000, while that of men rose to 78,07, up by 0,35 years, the Health Ministry said in survey results. Japanese women edged ahead of their counterparts in Hong Kong, whose life expectancy is 83,9 years, and were followed by those in France and Switzerland at 82,5 years. Although the survey said Japanese men are currently the world‘s longest-lived males, this is provisional as figures for 2001 from Hong Kong and Iceland, which have been close to those of Japan in recent years, are yet to be released. Hong Kong males had a life expectancy of 78 years in 2000, followed by Iceland with 77,6 years, the ministry said.

Japan has been grappling with the problems posed by its rapidly greying society for years, and demographics paint a stark picture. In 2000, senior citizens outnumbered children for the first time, with 17,7 percent of the population aged 64 or older compared with 14,4 percent aged 15 or younger. By 2020, one in four Japanese will be over 65, according to some estimates. Japan‘s population, which was 126,9 million in 2000, is expected to peak in 2006 at 127,7 million and then start dropping, according to a government research institute. (Reuters)