Women in many countries around the world are living longer than ever before. Global life expectancy at birth for females reached 74.2 years in 2019, up from 46.7 years in 1950. But there are still large disparities between countries when it comes to female life expectancy. Some factors that contribute to longer lifespans for women include access to healthcare, education, economic prosperity, and overall equality. In this article, we will examine the countries where women live the longest and explore some of the reasons behind their longevity.
Countries with the Highest Female Life Expectancy
According to 2019 data from the World Health Organization, here are the top 10 countries where women live the longest:
| Country | Female Life Expectancy at Birth (Years) |
|---|---|
| Hong Kong | 87.6 |
| Japan | 87.5 |
| Spain | 86.3 |
| Switzerland | 85.7 |
| Singapore | 85.6 |
| Italy | 85.3 |
| France | 85.3 |
| South Korea | 85.1 |
| Australia | 85.0 |
| Israel | 84.6 |
As you can see, many of the top countries are in Europe and Asia. Hong Kong has the highest female life expectancy at 87.6 years, while Japan is a close second at 87.5 years. Spain, Switzerland, Singapore, Italy, France, South Korea, Australia, and Israel round out the top 10.
Key Factors for High Female Life Expectancy
There are several socioeconomic, healthcare, and lifestyle factors that contribute to the longevity of women in these high ranking countries:
– Access to quality healthcare – These countries have universal healthcare systems that provide preventative care and treatment for diseases. Regular doctor visits, screening tests, medications, and procedures help extend lifespans.
– Lower rates of poverty – More wealth and resources means proper nutrition, housing, education, and overall better living conditions. Poverty is linked to lower life expectancies.
– Education opportunities – Access to education improves health literacy, jobs, and lifetime earnings. More years in school is correlated with longer lives.
– Healthy lifestyles – Diet, exercise, avoiding smoking, and moderate alcohol intake promote longevity. Policies and cultural attitudes influence healthy behaviors.
– Equality for women – Countries with greater gender equality have narrower mortality gender gaps. Equal rights and status contributes to wellbeing.
– Clean environments – Less pollution, contaminants, and safer cities encourage active lifestyles outdoors. Environmental quality impacts public health.
– Advanced medicine – New technologies, medicines, and screening allow for earlier diagnosis and better treatment of diseases, especially chronic illnesses.
– Genetics and ethnicity – While minor, some genetic and biological advantages may contribute slightly to life expectancy. Ethnicity differences exist between countries.
Clearly, wealth, stability, and effective social policies promote the health and longevity of female populations. But it requires holistic approaches across sectors of society to enable women to live to their full lifespans.
Hong Kong
With a life expectancy of 87.6 years, Hong Kong has the greatest longevity for women in the world. Some key reasons include:
– High-quality healthcare system – Hong Kong has both public and private options with advanced services. Preventative care is accessible and affordable.
– Prosperity and development – Hong Kong has high GDP per capita incomes and low poverty rates. Wealth enables better nutrition, housing, education, lifestyles.
– Clean urban environment – Hong Kong has less air and water pollution due to environmental regulations. The city is very safe with low crime.
– Gender equality – Women are well represented in higher education and professional occupations. Equal rights and opportunities empower women.
– Diet and lifestyle – The traditional Cantonese diet with rice, vegetables, fish and less red meat contributes to longevity. Most adults are physically active.
– Family support – Multigenerational families provide emotional and practical support for older women. Elders are respected in families.
– Public infrastructure – Hong Kong has excellent transportation systems enabling mobility and engagement in the community for elderly residents.
With rising incomes and social development, the combination of these factors has allowed women in Hong Kong to become the longest living in the world. While its dense urban environment has drawbacks, Hong Kong exemplifies how quality healthcare, gender equality, lifestyle, and prosperity enable women to live long, healthy lives.
Japan
Japan has the second highest female life expectancy at 87.5 years. Reasons for Japanese women’s longevity include:
– Universal health coverage – Japan has an effective national insurance system that provides affordable access to doctors, hospitals, medications, and high-tech care.
– Public health initiatives – Health promotion campaigns target issues like diet, exercise, smoking, cancer screening. Laws limit secondhand smoke.
– Diet – Japanese cuisine with vegetables, fruits, fish, and green tea provides health benefits. Portions are smaller and obesity is lower.
– Strong primary care – Regular checkups allow doctors to monitor and treat any emerging health issues early before they become severe.
– High standards of living – Low poverty rates, education levels, modern infrastructure and services enable healthy lifestyles.
– Social cohesion – Close community ties provide support networks. Elderly are respected and cared for by families and society.
– Public safety – Extremely low crime and homicide rates allow for active lifestyles and engagement outside homes without fear for safety.
While aspects of Japanese culture like diet and social cohesion play a role, the comprehensive healthcare system and public health policies have had the largest impact on enabling women to live long lives. Access to preventative services and new medical treatments makes a significant difference. Japan exemplifies the importance of quality healthcare to maximize female life expectancy.
Spain
With a life expectancy of 86.3 years, Spain holds the third spot for where women live the longest. Underpinning this longevity are:
– Universal healthcare access – Spain has high-quality medical care with national insurance for all residents, reducing inequality in life expectancy.
– Healthy Mediterranean diet – Fresh fruits, vegetables, fish, olive oil, and wine contribute to lower rates of heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.
– Active lifestyles – Walking is common in urban areas. Sports like football are popular. Siestas and late dinners promote rest.
– Strong family ties – Multigenerational families provide support for aging women. Grandmothers often help care for grandchildren.
– Gender equality – Women are increasingly participating in higher education and careers. Equal rights laws prohibit discrimination.
– Climate – Warm weather and abundant sunshine in much of Spain enables spending time outdoors and promoting vitamin D levels.
– Government pensions – Retirement income allows elderly women to live comfortably and access services after leaving the workforce.
Spain’s excellent healthcare system has laid the foundation for women’s longevity. But cultural aspects like diet, activity, family, and gender equality have also contributed to enabling long lifespans. Spain exemplifies how social and environmental factors enhance longevity.
Countries with the Lowest Female Life Expectancy
While women in the countries discussed above are living into their late 80s, there are many places in the world where women have much lower life expectancies. Here are the bottom 10 countries for female life expectancy according to 2019 WHO data:
| Country | Female Life Expectancy at Birth (Years) |
|---|---|
| Central African Republic | 53.1 |
| Lesotho | 54.4 |
| Somalia | 56.3 |
| Mali | 58.3 |
| Malawi | 63.6 |
| Guinea-Bissau | 64.3 |
| Sierra Leone | 65.1 |
| Nigeria | 54.7 |
| Chad | 65.4 |
| Angola | 65.7 |
Many sub-Saharan African nations have extremely low life expectancies for women below 65 years old. Poverty, inadequate healthcare, high maternal mortality, infectious diseases, conflicts, and food insecurity contribute to shorter lifespans. Lack of education and rights for women also play a role. Improving living conditions, increasing access to medical care, reducing inequality and empowering women could extend female life spans by decades in these countries.
Factors for Low Female Life Expectancy
There are stark differences in the factors influencing women’s health and longevity in low income nations:
– Limited healthcare – Few doctors and hospitals, lack of medications, equipment, and health knowledge reduces lifespans.
– Poverty and malnutrition – Inadequate food, clean water, and sanitation leads to nutritional deficiencies, stunted growth, and susceptibility to infections.
– Diseases – Malaria, HIV, tuberculosis, parasites and lack of vaccines lead to higher mortality rates.
– Reproductive health – Complications from pregnancy, lack of midwives, and unsafe abortions result in maternal deaths.
– Hard labor – Physically strenuous work in fields or industry with exposures to toxins impacts health over time.
– Gender inequality – Less education, domestic violence, lack of family planning, and maternal healthcare access negatively affect women.
– Conflicts and disasters – Wars, crime, natural disasters cause acute and long term harm to health and social conditions.
– Environmental factors – Indoor cooking fires, polluted water, unsanitary living conditions create health hazards.
To improve women’s life expectancy, a comprehensive approach is needed to reduce poverty, infectious diseases, maternal mortality, gender inequality, and other socioeconomic factors that affect health and longevity.
Central African Republic
Women in the Central African Republic have the world’s lowest life expectancy at just 53.1 years. This shockingly short lifespan is due to:
– Extreme poverty – The CAR is one of the poorest countries globally with high rates of hunger and malnutrition. Living conditions are very difficult with few basic services.
– Healthcare shortages – There is only 1 doctor per 33,000 people in the CAR. Medicines are scarce. Many cannot access clinics or afford care.
– Maternal mortality – About 880 mothers die per 100,000 births, one of the highest rates globally. Lack of maternity care causes these deaths.
– HIV/AIDS – Rates of HIV are high at around 4% of adults. Life-extending antiviral treatment is hard to obtain.
– Malaria – Malaria accounts for 40% of hospitalizations and is a leading cause of death. Medicines and mosquito nets are not widely available.
– Violent conflict – Years of civil war and unrest have destroyed infrastructure like roads and hospitals that are essential for health.
– Gender inequality – Women have less education, fewer rights, and minimal healthcare access. Early marriage and frequent pregnancies are common.
Poverty, inadequate healthcare, maternal mortality, and gender inequality combine to dramatically shorten women’s lives in the CAR. Ending conflict, reducing poverty, improving education and healthcare access are crucial steps to increasing female life expectancy.
Global Efforts to Improve Women’s Longevity
International organizations are working to close the gap in life expectancy between countries through initiatives like:
– UN Sustainable Development Goals – Goal 3 focuses on health and Goal 5 on gender equality for women and girls.
– WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health – Targets closing health inequities including between men and women globally.
– UN Gender Equality programs – Seek to empower women socially and economically and end discrimination.
– UNICEF maternal and child health programs – Provides immunizations, midwife training, hospital equipment and medication in developing nations.
– Micronutrient initiatives – Food fortification and vitamin supplementation helps overcome malnutrition.
– Education advocacy – Campaigns to achieve universal primary education for girls and gender equality in school enrollment.
– Reproductive health access – Family planning services, contraception availability, and post-abortion care saves women’s lives.
– Water, sanitation and hygiene – Improving clean water access and sanitation reduces infectious diseases.
Targeted interventions and holistic development approaches are needed. But global efforts are helping improve healthcare access, education, nutrition, and gender equality – all factors that can extend women’s lifespans across the world.
Conclusion
While women in a few nations like Hong Kong and Japan are living into their late 80s, severe gender gaps remain in life expectancy globally. Empowering women socially and economically, ending gender bias, improving access to healthcare and education, and addressing poverty can help increase female life expectancy. Achieving health equity will give women in every country the opportunity to live to their full potential and more equal lifespans with men around the world.