According to a recent report in The Lancet, men from Iceland have the longest life spans, with only 65 deaths per 1000 for men under the age of 60. Swaziland, on the other hand has the highest rate of mortality for younger men with a staggeringly high 756 in every 1,000 men dying before the age of 60. The recent study was carried out at the University of Seattle and the research team analyzed figures, which showed the rate of deaths in 187 countries from 1970 to 2010 in people aged 15 to 59.
Iceland leads in life expectancy.
Life Insurance Premiums Likely to Differ Depending on Location
The report showed that although the global mortality rate for adults has fallen by 1% a year for the past 40 years, the difference between the mortality rate of those countries with the highest and lowest rates is increasing. Substantial increases in adult mortality have been seen in the Sub Saharan Desert and in the Soviet Republic due to the Aids epidemic and a significant decline in mortality rates in South Asia. One implication of this new information is that people living in South Asia will be able to get lower Life Insurance premiums.
Individuals with Best Chance of Low Life Insurance premiums
The countries with the lowest mortality rates for men are: Iceland, Sweden, Malta, Netherlands, Switzerland, and Australia – in fact Australia’s mortality rate decreased dramatically from 44th place in 1970 to 6th in 2010. The UK came in at 19th for mortality rates, Greece at 22nd.
The report was bad news for the U.S. however, since mortality rates have increased for both men and women – with men dropping to 45th place (170 deaths per 1000) and women to 49th. This puts the U.S. way behind its neighbor, Canada whose mortality puts them in 28th place – a statistic which some people may find surprising.
According to Dr Christopher Murray, author of the study, there may be good reasons for this “Part of it is that Canada is doing a much better job in tobacco than the United States.” Another factor is that Canada has universal health care and less incidence of so-called “affluence diseases” such as high blood pressure, diabetes, coronary heart disease and obesity, rates of which are increasing more rapidly in North America than in the developing nations.
Women of Cyprus have Best Chance of Longevity
For women the best place to live is Cyprus, followed by South Korea, Japan, Italy and Greece with Spain retaining a good rating (looks as though that Mediterranean diet pays off after all).
The adult mortality rate has big implications for public health globally and is listed as a Millennium Goal, but has been somewhat neglected until now. The latest research will also be useful for life insurance companies when it comes to underwriting policies in different countries.
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