Study finds life expectancy gains slowing since mid-20th century
HuffPost - 08-Sep-2025Life expectancy rose 18 years from 1900–1938 but only ~3 months per year after 1939
Life Expectancy
News and resources on current life expectancy - lets see how it changes over time
Congratulations - you've survived another year... unfortunately your risk of dying goes up another 9% next year, and every year after that - that's why at the moment you can't beat the exponential risk of death.Definition: period life expectancy = how long a new-born would live if today's death rates did not change. They should improve over time therefore this is not a prediction of how long a child born today will live for.
REMEMBER: most improvement in life expectancy over the last century has been due to reduced child mortality and combatting infectious diseases, rather than tacking ageing itself. Here's an interesting quote from New Methuselahs: "between 1860 and 1960, life expectancy at birth in the United States increased by 31 years, but the life expectancy for an adult who reached the age of 60 increased by only 1 year during that century. In other words, a century ago, those who made it to 60 lived roughly as long as we do, but the odds of making it to 60 were much worse."
Life Expectancy News
Centenarians accumulate fewer and slower-progressing diseases
Live Forever Club - 03-Sep-2025Their health differences appear decades earlier, highlighting keys to living longer
Centenarians’ gut microbes produce mesaconic acid, a compound that may slow ageing
Live Forever Club - 03-Sep-2025This discovery suggests gut microbes may play a major role in healthy ageing
Finnish longevity doesn’t always follow Blue Zone rules
Gizmodo - 02-Sep-2025Longevity depends on more than healthy habits alone
Life Expectancy Resources
Click on resource name for more details.
LongeviQuest (LQ)
Longevity company which unites researchers from all over the world to track the longest-lived people
Secrets of the World’s Healthiest Children: Why Japanese children have the longest, healthiest lives - and how yours can too
Behaviours and tips that will help any parent achieve the results they want, written by Naomi Moriyama
The Science of Living Longer
A Comprehensive Guide to longevity written by Dr Rer Nat Thomas Spaeter
Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life
Internationally bestselling guide to the Japanese concept of ikigai - the happiness of always being busy
The Blue Zones Kitchen
Book from the Blue Zone series with 100 Recipes to Live to 100 written by Dan Buettner
24-Jun-2025
Oldest human record not broken for 28 years – are we making any progress with maximum lifespan?
Will Jeanne Calment’s record 122 years ever be broken?
12-Jul-2024
Are Wimbledon champions really getting older?
Has this century seen extraordinarily long-lived Wimbledon champions, or are winners over 30 years of age the new normal?
23-May-2024
If you stopped ageing today, how long would you live?
Not as long as you might think. For radical life extension we need to reverse ageing.
28-Jun-2023
Exponential Increase in Mortality and Diseases
The data and science behind the exponential growth in mortality with age
Topics covered in this page:
Blue Zones, Centenarians, Life Expectancy, Longevity Escape Velocity, Old Age
