Data published by the OECD show Switzerland leading on male life expectancy at birth. The latest figure (2021) is 81.9 years.
Other nations with high male life expectancy include Iceland (81.8), Norway (81.7), Japan (81.6) and Sweden (81.4). The year before, male life expectancy in Switzerland was 81.0, lower than Australia (81.2), Iceland (81.6), Japan (81.6) and Norway (81.6).
Crudely, life expectancy is calculated by dividing the population into age bands and observing the percentage of people in each age band surviving a particular year. These survival percentages are then multiplied by the extra years of life gained by surviving each band, before being added together to calculate total life expectancy.
A key weakness of this calculation is that it assumes the lifelong health of young people will be the same as those currently in the death zone, for example that someone in their 20s today will be as healthy in their 80s as someone currently in their 80s. They may not be. The two biggest causes of death across most of the OECD are cardiovascular disease and cancer, two diseases with a significant lifestyle component. The relatively recent shift to ultra processed foods, changes in eating habits, exercise habits and environmental pollution could all create head winds for any life saving improvements in healthcare.
Overall life expectancy in the US fell by 3 years between 2019 and 2021 from 79 to 76. Much of the drop has been attributed to Covid-19, drug overdoses, accidental injury, heart and liver disease and suicides, according to a medical expert at Harvard Health. This shows how life expectancy can decline.
Lifestyle and environmental factors can also lead to large life expectancy gaps between nations. Male life expectancy in Switzerland (81.9) in 2021 exceeds the same figure in the US (74.2) by 7.7 years – US male life expectancy has fallen since to 73.2. There will be many reasons for this difference but one is likely to be differences in lifestyle.
For example, fast food remains expensive in Switzerland. The latest Big Mac index puts Switzerland at the top. A Swiss Big Mac (CHF 6.70) is 35% more costly than one in the US (CHF 4.93). A Swiss family of four dining at McDonalds could spend spend CHF 60 (US$65) – four Big Mac meals, enough money to feed the same family for a couple of days if cooking healthy food at home.
Current female life expectancy in Switzerland (85.9) trails Spain (86.2), Korea (86.5) and Japan (87.7).
More on this:
OECD data (in English)
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