Life Expectancy

Source: CIA (The WORLD FACTBOOK)

Country Comparison :: Life expectancy at birth (mostly for 2009)
This entry contains the average number of years to be lived by a group of people born in the same year, if mortality at each age remains constant in the future.
Life expectancy at birth is also a measure of overall quality of life in a country and summarizes the mortality at all ages. It can also be thought of as indicating the potential return on investment in human capital and is necessary for the calculation of various actuarial measures.

1 Macau 84.36
2 Andorra 82.51
3 Japan 82.12
4 Singapore 82.98
5 Hong Kong 81.86
6 Australia 81.63
7 Canada 81.23
8 France 80.98
9 Sweden 80.86
10 Switzerland 80.85
11 San Marino 80.81
12 Israel 80.73
13 Iceland 80.67
14 Anguilla 80.65
15 Cayman Islands 80.44
16 Bermuda 80.43
17 New Zealand 80.36
18 Italy 80.20
19 Monaco 80.09
20 Liechtenstein 80.06
21 Spain 80.05
22 Guernsey 80.00
23 Norway 79.95
24 Jordan 79.85
25 Jersey 79.75
26 Greece 79.66
27 Austria 79.50
28 Faroe Islands 79.44
29 Malta 79.44
30 Netherlands 79.40
31 Luxembourg 79.33
32 Germany 79.26
33 Belgium 79.22
34 Saint Pierre and Miquelon 79.08
35 Virgin Islands 79.05
36 United Kingdom 79.01
37 Finland 78.97
38 Isle of Man 78.82
39 Gibraltar 78.79
40 Korea, South 78.72
41 European Union 78.52
42 Puerto Rico 78.52
43 Bosnia and Herzegovina 78.50
44 Saint Helena, Ascension. 78.44
and Tristan da Cunha
45 Denmark 78.30
46 Ireland 78.21
47 Portugal 78.21
48 Wallis and Futuna 78.11

49 United States 78.11

50 Albania 77.96

Brief comments:
1. Thank God we are ahead of Albania!
2. Number 48, Wallis and Futuna (which I had never heard of) are French territories in the South Pacific, between Fiji and Samoa. Their population is about 14,000.
3. In all of the listings, there were six numbers past the dot. But never was the third number past the dot over four. Therefore, I never had to round off upwards–that is, change a 79.578 to 79.58. That makes me suspicious of the data. But it’s the CIA, after all.
4. Another source–The Henry Kaiser Family Foundation–dated in 2007, puts us as 42, based on residents born in 2004. The figure given was 77.9 and the article indicated that our life expectancy reached its highest level ever.