The average life expectancy of Japanese citizens born in 2024 remained almost unchanged from the previous year, a health ministry survey showed Friday.

The average life expectancy for men is 81.09 years and 87.13 for women.

The average life expectancy indicates a future average lifespan for children born in a particular year. It is calculated on the premise that mortality rates at each age will not change.

The country’s life expectancy declined in 2021 and 2022, due to the Covid-19 crisis, after continuing to climb generally since the ministry started the survey in 1947.

It rebounded in 2023 as the number of deaths from the disease dropped.

The life expectancy of Japanese men placed sixth globally in 2024, after Sweden, Switzerland, Norway, Italy, and Spain, dropping one place from 2023, while Japanese women remained in first spot, followed by South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, France, and Italy.

The share of Japanese men born in 2024 who are projected to live until 75 and 90 stands at 75.3 percent and 25.8 percent, respectively. Of women born last year, 87.9 percent are expected to live until 75 and 50.2 percent until 90. (PNA)