Spain will overtake Japan's long‑held position at the top of the world's life expectancy table by 2040, while the United States is set to take a big fall in rankings.
According to a new research, people in Spain will live for 85.8 years on average, marginally edging out expected lifespans in Japan which is 85.7 years.
The United States will take the biggest drop in ranking of all high‑income countries, falling from 43rd in 2016 to 64th by 2040, with an average life expectancy of 79.8.
The US will be overtaken by China, which rises 29 places to 39th in the table.
The study, published in the journal Lancet, analyzed data from the 2016 Global Burden of Diseases project, to generate predictions from 2017 to 2040.
The impacts of diseases such as diabetes, HIV/AIDS and cancers, as well as risk factors including diet and smoking rates were taken into account by researchers.
The factors which caused the most premature deaths were high blood pressure, high body mass index, high blood sugar, tobacco use and alcohol use.
According to the new research, British people's average lifespan will be 83.3 years, Germans' will be 83.2 and an average Australian will live until age 84.1.
[Source: CNN]
