Life Expectancy Could Increase 5 Years by 2050
Global life expectancy could increase by almost five years by 2050, but people may spend more time living with poor health.
That's according to a new study published in The Lancet this May.
The Global Burden of Disease Study 2021 found that life expectancies in some of the world's poorer countries could catch up to those in more developed countries.
The study predicted that by 2050, global life expectancy will increase by 4.9 years for men and 4.2 years for women.
Women are still predicted to have longer life expectancies, with a global average of 80.5 years, compared to 76.2 for men.
The biggest increases are expected to come in sub-Saharan Africa.
The researchers said improved public health measures have increased life expectancies. People are now more likely to survive things like communicable diseases and diseases suffered by new mothers and babies.
However, it's not all good news. People are also expected to be affected by more non-communicable diseases, such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes.
According to the study, the total number of years lost due to things like high blood pressure, high blood sugar and obesity has increased by almost 50% since the year 2000.
And the researchers suggest that, while total life expectancy will increase almost five years, healthy life expectancy — the number of years a person can expect to live in good health — will only increase by about 2.6 years.
Health inequalities between the world's poorest and richest people will remain, but the gap is getting smaller, said one of the senior authors, Chris Murray from the University of Washington.
Murray said the aim for governments across the world should be to influence lifestyle factors that affect life expectancies.
In other words, governments should encourage people to do things like eat healthily and get regular exercise.
