LONGEST-LIVED PEOPLE.

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 16 January 1926, Page 6

LONGEST-LIVED PEOPLE.

Statisticians througnout the world are co-ordinating and preparing national records to obtain reliable comparisons of mortality at various ages. Ino material so far available shows definitely that persons born in Britain are living longer than the people of practically every other country, the difference generally being between two and .three years for both men and ivj-i men. A In 40 years the death-rate in has declined from 20.4 per 1000 to 12.2 a 1000, while the average for the 24' other principal countries is 16.6 a 1000 Canada, South Africa, Australia and Zealand have shown lower figures than Britain, but this is explained bv the fact that the influx of young, new settlors is included. Denmark alone ®i!" ’f* Britain in its death-rate since 191. , but the margin is only two-fifths. 1 lie average middle-aged person today has the prospect of five or six years more of life than his 'grandparents had. The main test . of international longevity is the figures of the expectsnon of life founded on a 10 years’ survey in (lilierent countries, and here Britain has a distinct lead. a comparison in this respect is made below with 1 "iiu’O, (torniaiiy and the United States, the returns for which represent an almost exact average of those for the rest or the world: Years of Life Expectation.

Women 4 5 4 4 Life assurance companies in this *■ country have found that, since. 1893, they have been under-estimating the expectation of life of men by about three years, and women by four years.

GerA 14'< Brit nin Prance man V U.S.A. 0 Mon 5G 4G 45 50 20 Women Men GO 4G 50 4 2 49 40 as 40 Women 4 0 4 5 4 5 45 45 Men 2i> 04 20 24 55 Women M en 2S IS 2G 17 2G 17 2G IS (>5 Women A Ten 20 .12 10 11 IS 11 10 12 Women 10 12 13 7 5 Men * 7 G 7 85 Women Men 71 7 4 7 4 71 4