Flatlining Japanese Life Expectancy in 2024
Japanese Life Expectancy Rebounds in 2023 After COVID-19 Pandemic Impact
The life expectancy of Japanese citizens has shown a significant recovery in 2023, following a decline in 2021 and 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a survey conducted by the Japanese health ministry in 2024, the average life expectancy for men is 81.09 years, while for women, it stands at 87.13 years.
The survey indicates that the average life expectancy is a future average lifespan for children born in a particular year. In this case, the data provided is for individuals born in 2024. The survey premise is that mortality rates at each age will not change.
The health ministry started conducting such surveys in 1947, and since then, the life expectancy in Japan generally climbed until the decline in 2021 and 2022. The pandemic directly increased deaths, impacting overall life expectancy negatively.
However, in 2023, the average life expectancy rebounded as the number of deaths from COVID-19 and other major causes, such as cancer, decreased. This led to mortality rates returning closer to pre-pandemic levels. Fewer COVID-19 fatalities allowed for this recovery, stabilizing life expectancy at around the levels seen before the pandemic.
In terms of global rankings, Japan dropped to sixth place for men's life expectancy in 2024, moving down from its fifth place in 2023. For women, Japan maintained the highest life expectancy worldwide in 2024, although their number slightly decreased compared to 2023. The countries following Japan in life expectancy for women in 2024 are South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, France, and Italy.
In conclusion, the key factors behind the decline in life expectancy were the increased mortality from COVID-19 in 2021-2022, and the rebound was due to the fall in COVID-19 deaths and stabilization of other mortality causes in 2023. The survey provides valuable insights into the future health and lifespan of Japanese citizens, offering a hopeful outlook as the country continues to recover from the pandemic's impact.
[1] [Health ministry survey, 2024] [2] [Japanese life expectancy data, 2024] [3] [Global life expectancy rankings, 2024] [4] [World Health Organization data, 2024]
- Amidst the global recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, governments and health organizations have been working tirelessly to share the latest health-and-wellness data, such as the photo of the Japanese life expectancy rebound in 2023 as seen in the Health ministry survey, 2024.
- In the realm of global science, focusing on health-and-wellness and life expectancy, Japan ranked sixth for men's life expectancy and retained the highest life expectancy for women in 2024, as per the data from the World Health Organization in 2024 and the Global life expectancy rankings, 2024.
