In Which Countries Do People Live the Longest?

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Ask ten seniors for their secret to longevity and you’ll get ten different answers. Take into account people of different countries and cultures, and the recipe for the “fountain of youth” may seem difficult to pin down.

Though there’s no hard and fast rule to lasting well into your 80s, 90s or even past one hundred, world life expectancy statistics give an insight to what keeps people younger, longer.

The countries with the longest average life expectancies are invariably wealthy nations with good health care systems and healthy lifestyles , with Japan at the top of the list, according to this 2006 data from the United Nations Statistics Division.

The average life expectancy in Japan is now 83 years. Following Japan, several countries have life expectancy of 82 years: Andorra, Australia, Monaco, San Marino and Switzerland. The countries with an average expectancy of 81 years are Canada, France, Israel, Iceland, Italy, Spain and Sweden.

With an average life expectancy of 78, tied with Slovenia and Cuba among others, the United States lags behind other industrialized nations and those with similarly-sized economies.

There are also "pocket" of super-longevity noted in different parts of the world.

The island of Okinawa in Japan, for example, is renowned for its large population of centenarians, as is Sardinia, Italy, according to The Okinawa Centenarian Study. The key to reaching -- and passing -- the age of 100 in these spots is a combination of genetics, good dietary habits , exercise, stress reduction and strong social networks, the study’s scientists have found.

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