The average life expectancy of Japanese citizens born in 2024 has remained the same as in 2023, but Japan continues to have among the oldest population in the world.

According to a health ministry survey released on Friday (July 25), the life expectancy for those born this year is 81.09 years for men and 87.13 years for women, exactly the same as last year.

Life expectancy refers to the estimated average number of years a child born in a specific year is expected to live, assuming that mortality rates at each age remain unchanged.

Japan’s life expectancy briefly declined in 2021 and 2022 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which caused an increase in deaths. However, it rebounded in 2023 as Covid-related deaths dropped.

In 2024, Japanese men ranked sixth in the world for life expectancy, falling one spot from 2023. The top countries are Sweden, Switzerland, Norway, Italy, and Spain. Meanwhile, Japanese women remain number one, followed by South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, France, and Italy.

The survey also showed that 75.3% of Japanese men born in 2024 are expected to live to 75 years old, and 25.8% may reach 90. For women born this year, 87.9% are expected to live to 75, and 50.2% to 90 years old.