Editing Life expectancy (section)

===Regional variations===
{{further|List of countries by life expectancy}}There are great variations in life expectancy between different parts of the world, mostly caused by differences in [[public health]], medical care, and diet.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Worthy |first1=L. D. |last2=Lavigne |first2=T. |last3=Romero |first3=F. |date=2020-07-27 |title=Life Expectancy |url=https://openbooks.braou.ac.in/culturepsychology/chapter/life-expectancy/ |language=en}}</ref>

Human beings are expected to live on average 60 years in [[Eswatini]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/eswatini/|title=The World Factbook – Central Intelligence Agency|date=4 November 2021}}</ref> and 82.6 years in Japan.{{efn|Japan's recorded life expectancy may have been very slightly increased by counting many infant deaths as stillborn.<ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Coale AJ, Banister J|date=December 1996|title=Five decades of missing females in China|journal=Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society|volume=140|issue=4|pages=421–450|jstor=987286|author-link=Ansley J. Coale}} Also printed as {{cite journal|vauthors=Coale AJ, Banister J|title=Five decades of missing females in China|journal=Demography|volume=31|issue=3|pages=459–479|date=August 1994|pmid=7828766|doi=10.2307/2061752|s2cid=24724998|doi-access=free|jstor=2061752}}
</ref>}} An analysis published in 2011 in ''[[The Lancet]]'' attributes Japanese life expectancy to [[equal opportunities]], excellent [[public health]], and a healthy diet.<ref name="guardian japan life expectancy">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/aug/30/japan-life-expectancy-factors|title=Japan's life expectancy 'down to equality and public health measures'|work=The Guardian|date=30 August 2011|access-date=31 August 2011|vauthors=Boseley S|location=London|quote=Japan has the highest life expectancy in the world but the reasons says an analysis, are as much to do with equality and public health measures as diet.... According to a paper in a Lancet series on healthcare in Japan....}}</ref><ref name="lancet what has made the population of japan healthy">{{cite journal|vauthors=Ikeda N, Saito E, Kondo N, Inoue M, Ikeda S, Satoh T, Wada K, Stickley A, Katanoda K, Mizoue T, Noda M, Iso H, Fujino Y, Sobue T, Tsugane S, Naghavi M, Ezzati M, Shibuya K|title=What has made the population of Japan healthy?|journal=Lancet|volume=378|issue=9796|pages=1094–1105|date=September 2011|pmid=21885105|doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(11)61055-6|quote=Reduction in health inequalities with improved average population health was partly attributable to equal educational opportunities and financial access to care.|s2cid=33124920}}</ref>

The [[World Health Organization]] announced that the [[COVID-19]] pandemic reversed the trend of steady gain in life expectancy at birth.  The pandemic wiped out nearly a decade of progress in improving life expectancy.<ref>{{cite news|title=COVID-19 eliminated a decade of progress in global level of life expectancy|url=https://www.who.int/news/item/24-05-2024-covid-19-eliminated-a-decade-of-progress-in-global-level-of-life-expectancy|access-date=3 July 2024|publisher=World Health Organization|date=24 May 2024}}</ref>

==== Africa ====
[[File:Comparison subsaharan life expectancy.svg|thumb|upright|Graphs of life expectancy at birth for some sub-Saharan countries showing the fall in the 1990s primarily due to the [[HIV pandemic]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.LE00.IN/countries/1W|title=Life expectancy at birth, total (years)—Data|publisher=World Bank Group}}</ref>]]

During the last 200 years, African countries have generally not had the same improvements in mortality rates that have been enjoyed by countries in Asia, Latin America, and Europe.<ref>{{cite web|title=Wealth & Health of Nations|url=http://www.gapminder.org/world/#$majorMode=chart$is;shi=t;ly=2003;lb=f;il=t;fs=11;al=30;stl=t;st=t;nsl=t;se=t$wst;tts=C$ts;sp=5.59290322580644;ti=2013$zpv;v=0$inc_x;mmid=XCOORDS;iid=phAwcNAVuyj1jiMAkmq1iMg;by=ind$inc_y;mmid=YCOORDS;iid=phAwcNAVuyj2tPLxKvvnNPA;by=ind$inc_s;uniValue=8.21;iid=phAwcNAVuyj0XOoBL_n5tAQ;by=ind$inc_c;uniValue=255;gid=CATID0;by=grp$map_x;scale=log;dataMin=194;dataMax=96846$map_y;scale=lin;dataMin=23;dataMax=86$map_s;sma=49;smi=2.65$cd;bd=0$inds=;example=75|access-date=26 June 2015|publisher=Gapminder Foundation}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|date=31 August 2022|title=Life Expectancy in the U.S. Dropped for the Second Year in a Row in 2021|url=https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/nchs_press_releases/2022/20220831.htm|access-date=31 August 2022|website=Centers for Disease Control and Prevention}}</ref> This is most apparent by the impact of [[AIDS]] on many African countries. According to projections made by the [[United Nations]] in 2002, the life expectancy at birth for 2010–2015 (if [[HIV/AIDS]] did not exist) would have been:<ref>{{cite book|url=https://www.un.org/ESA/population/publications/wpp2002/WPP2002-HIGHLIGHTSrev1.PDFUN|title=World Population Prospects – The 2002 Revision|volume=I: Comprehensive Tables|publisher=United Nations Secretariat, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division|date=2003|page=24|access-date=15 December 2020|archive-date=7 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220507023722/https://www.un.org/ESA/population/publications/wpp2002/WPP2002-HIGHLIGHTSrev1.PDFUN|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* 70.7 years instead of 31.6 years, Botswana
* 69.9 years instead of 41.5 years, South Africa
* 70.5 years instead of 31.8 years, Zimbabwe

==== Eastern Europe ====
On average, [[eastern Europe]]ans tend to live shorter lives than their western counterparts. For example, [[Spaniards]] from [[Madrid]] can expect to live to 85, but [[Bulgarians]] from the region of [[Severozapaden]] are predicted to live just past their 73rd birthday. This is in large part due to poor health habits, such as heavy smoking and high alcoholism in the region, and environmental factors, such as high air pollution.<ref>{{cite news|title=Why life expectancy is lower in eastern Europe|date=20 September 2018|url=https://www.economist.com/europe/2018/09/20/why-life-expectancy-is-lower-in-eastern-europe|url-access=subscription|access-date=2024-06-03|newspaper=The Economist|issn=0013-0613|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230731164643/https://www.economist.com/europe/2018/09/20/why-life-expectancy-is-lower-in-eastern-europe|archive-date=2023-07-31}}</ref>


==== United States ====
[[File:Life expectancy post-COVID.png|thumb|Life expectancy from 1990 to 2021 in the US, UK, Netherlands, and Austria]]In 2022, the life expectancy was 77.5 in the United States, a decline from 2014, but an increase from 2021. In what has been described as a "life expectancy crisis", there were a total of 13 million "missing Americans" from 1980 to 2021, deaths that would have been averted if it had the standard mortality rate of "[[Developed country|wealthy nations]]".{{citation needed|date=November 2024}}

The annual number of "missing Americans" has been increasing, with 622,534 in 2019 alone.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Missing Americans: Unprecedented US Mortality Far Exceeds Other Wealthy Nations|url=https://www.bu.edu/sph/news/articles/2023/the-missing-americans-unprecedented-us-mortality-far-exceeds-other-wealthy-nations/|access-date=2024-06-03|publisher=Boston University|department=School of Public Health|language=en|date=14 July 2023|first1=Jillian|last1=McKoy}}</ref> Most excess deaths in the United States can largely be attributed to increasing [[obesity]], [[alcoholism]], [[drug overdose]]s, [[car accidents]], [[suicide]]s, and [[murder]]s, with [[Insomnia|poor sleep]], [[unhealthy diet]]s, and [[loneliness]] being linked to most of them.<ref>{{cite web|vauthors=Berg S|date=2023-03-10|title=What doctors wish patients knew about falling U.S. life expectancy|url=https://www.ama-assn.org/delivering-care/public-health/what-doctors-wish-patients-knew-about-falling-us-life-expectancy|access-date=2024-06-03|publisher=American Medical Association|language=en}}</ref>

[[Black Americans]] have generally shorter life expectancies than their [[White American]] counterparts. For example, white Americans in 2010 are expected to live until age 78.9, but black Americans only until age 75.1. This 3.8-year gap, however, is the lowest it has been since 1975 at the latest, the greatest difference being 7.1 years in 1993.<ref name="Final 2010 data">{{cite journal|vauthors=Murphy SL, Xu JQ, Kochanek KD, Curtin SC, Arias E|title=Deaths: Final Data for 2010|journal=National Vital Statistics Reports|volume=61|issue=4|location=Hyattsville, MD|publisher=National Center for Health Statistics=|date=2013|pages=1–117|pmid=24979972|url=https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr61/nvsr61_04.pdf}}</ref> In contrast, [[Asian American]] women live the longest of all ethnic and gender groups in the United States, with a life expectancy of 85.8 years.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=United States Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Minority Health|url=http://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/templates/browse.aspx?lvl=2&lvlID=53|title=Asian American/Pacific Islander Profile|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204024943/http://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/templates/browse.aspx?lvl=2&lvlid=53|archive-date=4 February 2012}}</ref> The life expectancy of [[Hispanic Americans]] is 81.2 years.<ref name="Final 2010 data" />

==== Japan ====
In 2023, the life expectancy was 84.5 in Japan, 4.2 years above the [[OECD]] average, and one of the highest in the world. Japan's high life expectancy can largely be explained by their healthy diets, which are low on [[salt]], [[fat]], and red meat. For these reasons, Japan has a low [[obesity]] rate, and ultimately low mortality from [[heart disease]] and [[cancer]]s.<ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Tsugane S|title=Why has Japan become the world's most long-lived country: insights from a food and nutrition perspective|journal=European Journal of Clinical Nutrition|volume=75|issue=6|pages=921–928|date=June 2021|pmid=32661353|pmc=8189904|doi=10.1038/s41430-020-0677-5}}</ref>

==== In cities ====
Cities also experience a wide range of life expectancy based on neighborhood breakdowns. This is largely due to economic clustering and poverty conditions that tend to associate based on geographic location. Multi-generational poverty found in struggling neighborhoods also contributes. In American cities such as [[Cincinnati]], the life expectancy gap between low income and high-income neighborhoods touches 20 years.<ref name="waterfields">{{cite web|url=http://waterfieldsllc.com/about-waterfields/social-mission/root-causes-poverty/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906041120/http://waterfieldsllc.com/about-waterfields/social-mission/root-causes-poverty/|archive-date=6 September 2015|title=The Root Causes of Poverty|publisher=Waterfields, LLC|location=Cincinnati, Ohio|access-date=2015-03-04}}</ref>