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UK babies born in 2015 have world's 20th-highest life expectancy

Babies born in the UK in 2015 have the 20th-highest life expectancy in the world.
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Babies born in the UK in 2015 have the 20th-highest life expectancy in the world.


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Figures from the World Health Organization (WHO) for 2015 suggest that babies born in the UK can on average expect to live for 81.2 years.

The UK comes behind countries including Singapore, Australia, Israel, Malta and Ireland.

The 2015 research shows that babies born in Japan could expect to live the longest, with an average life span predicted to be 83.7 years.

Koreans go top

The UK performed better than other Western nations including the United States, where the average baby born in 2015 could expect to live 79.3 years, and Germany, where the average life expectancy is 81.

Sierra Leone takes the bottom spot on the list – babies born in the West African nation can expect to live to just 50.1 years.

A recent study predicted that South Koreans could have the highest life expectancy in the world by 2030.

The research, published in The Lancet and funded by the UK Medical Research Council, predicted a baby girl born in South Korea in 2030 could expect to live until she is 90.8 years old, and a boy 84.1.

Maximum lifespan

But the rising trend is not set to continue forever, according to experts.

Another team of experts estimated that humans are unlikely ever to live beyond the age of 125.

Their study, published in the journal Nature, examined survival data going back to 1900 from more than 40 countries.

The researchers calculated that 125 was likely to be the absolute limit of human lifespan due to genetic factors.

According to WHO data, the top 30 countries with the longest life expectancies are:

  • Japan 83.7 years.
  • Switzerland  83.4 years.
  • Singapore 83.1 years.
  • Australia and Spain 82.8 years.
  • Iceland and Italy 82.7 years.
  • Israel 82.5 years.
  • France and Sweden 82.4 years.
  • South Korea 82.3 years.
  • Canada 82.2 years.
  • Luxembourg 82 years.
  • Netherlands 81.9 years.
  • Norway 81.8 years.
  • Malta 81.7 years.
  • New Zealand 81.6 years.
  • Austria 81.5 years.
  • Ireland 81.4 years.
  • United Kingdom 81.2 years.
  • Belgium, Finland and Portugal 81.1 years.
  • Germany and Greece 81 years.
  • Slovenia 80.8 years.
  • Denmark 80.6 years.
  • Chile and Cyprus 80.5 years.
  • Costa Rica 79.6 years.

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