Switzerland: Life expectancy is over 85 years, it declined for male

The latest OCED “Health at a Glance” report 2017 has found that countries that have a higher national income that spend more on health have longer life expectancies compared to those who do not. However many other factors also contribute to life expectancy, the report finds.

In the OECD countries, the life expectancy at birth was analyzed for the current year. An average of 80.6 years was noted in all the OECD countries in 2015. There has been a steady rise of life expectancy over the last few decades. A short temporary fall was noted in some countries between 2014 and 2015 but this did not last. Among OECD countries, the largest gainers in life expectancy were Turkey, Korea and Chile which have seen rise of 24, 20 and 17 years respectively since 1970. The encouraging numbers in life expectancy have been attributed to several factors including better education, better income, healthier lifestyles, and progress in health care. The economic growth of these countries is also significant over these past years.

The life expectancy for women is over 85 years in Japan, Spain, France, Korea and Switzerland and less than 80 years in Hungary, Latvia and Mexico. Among men the range is less than 75 years in Latvia, Mexico, Hungary, the Slovak Republic, Estonia and Poland and over 80 years in Iceland, Japan, Switzerland, Norway, Australia, Sweden, Italy, Israel and Spain. The gender gap is narrow in Iceland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Norway, Sweden, Ireland and Denmark with less than four years gap. The gap is almost 7-10 years in Latvia, Estonia, Poland, the Slovak Republic and Hungary.

Last year, Switzerland tied with Iceland for the prize of longest male life expectancy, according to the OECD.

In this year’s report Switzerland slipped into second place alongside Japan. Male life expectancy in Switzerland declined. It moved from 81.1 years to 80.8, a drop of 0.3 years. At the same time life expectancy for men in Iceland rose from 81.1 to 81.2. Iceland moved forward while Switzerland slipped back, leaving a gap of 0.4 years between the former co-winners.

Being one of the top three out of 35 countries for life expectancy at birth is a good result. However it is only one measure of health success. On another, healthy life years, Switzerland’s men don’t fare as well.

Healthy life expectancy is the number of disability free years, typically measured from the age of 65. The question asks: “For at least the past six months, have you been hampered because of a health problem in activities people usually do?”

On this measure Switzerland’s men (10.6) sit well behind Sweden’s (15.7), Iceland’s (15.5), and Norway’s (15.3) 2. And, unlike the small difference in life expectancy, an extra five years of good health is a decent stretch. On this measure, the lifestyle and environmental differences set out above might have more impact.

The OECD notes that there is a strong positive correlation between education level and healthy life expectancy. People who are more educated tend to choose healthier eating and lifestyle habits. In 25 OECD countries, those with highest education lived at least 6 years more than those with lower education levels. This gap is more in Slovak Republic, Estonia, Poland, Hungary, Latvia and the Czech Republic between higher and lower educated groups. The difference is less marked in some countries such as Turkey, Sweden and Canada.