Life Expectancy May Have Nearly Hit Its Limit, Study Finds

Life expectancy at birth rose by approximately 30 years in high-income nations in the 20th century.

Newly released research says improvements in life expectancy have decelerated in the past 30 years.

Human life expectancy increase in the 1900s was largely driven by advances in public health and medicine. Mortality reduction from early ages into middle and older ages improved.

Before the middle of the nineteenth century, life expectancy was between 20 and 50. Advances in public health and medicine spurred rapid increases in those ages growing into the 80s.

Scientists were unclear if it would continue into the 21st century.

Using demographic survivorship metrics from national vital statistics in the eight countries with the longest-lived populations (Australia, France, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland) and in Hong Kong and the United States, new research published in Nature found that the increases have slowed.

The analysis also found that resistance to improvements in life expectancy increased while lifespan inequality declined and mortality compression occurred.

The study suggested that survival to age 100 years is unlikely to exceed 15% for females and 5% for males.

The authors say that unless the processes of biological aging can be markedly slowed, radical human life extension is implausible in this century.