According to the latest statistics, Hong Kong men and women have the longest life expectancy in the world. Maybe there’s something to early morning tai chi, copious amounts of tea, and hocking loogies over storm drains after all.
(Just kidding, we know it’s actually all those longevity noodles and boxing lessons.)
Data released by the Japanese Health and Welfare Ministry on Wednesday showed that the average Hong Kong woman’s lifespan is 87.32 years, while Hong Kong men reach an average of 81.24 years of age.
In second and third places for female life expectancy are Japan and Spain, with average lifespans of 87.05 and 85.58, respectively.
On the other hand, Swiss and Icelandic men are tied for second with an average life expectancy of 81 years. On average, Japanese men live the third longest, at 80.79 years.
Japan’s women were consistently ranked the highest in life expectancy tables for 26 years, until the devastating Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami hit the north-eastern region of the country in March 2011, claiming 15,894 lives.
Talking to the SCMP, HKU public health professor Lam Tai-hing attributed Hongkongers’ decreasing smoking rates as the main reason for our long lifespans. Lam added that as Japan is much larger than Hong Kong (you know… being an entire country), healthcare may be less accessible to those living in rural areas.
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