“Life expectancy for Victorians is among the highest in Australia and higher than most other countries in the world,” Mr Andrews said.

“These new figures really do mean Victoria is the place to live, work and raise a family.

“In particular, Victorian men are bridging the gap for life expectancy and have overtaken the world’s longest-living men – the Japanese – at the top of the world longevity table,” he said.

Mr Andrews said a Victorian male born in 2006 can expect to live to 80.0 years, overtaking Japanese males whose average life expectancy is 79.0 years in 2006.

“The latest new life expectancy at birth estimates show that, in Victoria, we are living in an increasingly healthy society.”

In 1999 life expectancy for men was 76.7 years and 82.0 years for women. But in just under a decade life expectancy for men has improved by 3.3 years and for women by 2.3 years.

“One of the reasons advanced for the relative improvement in male life expectancy is because more men are giving up smoking, with deaths from lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease falling quicker in men than in women,” Mr Andrews said.

“The increase in overall life expectancy among Victorians is especially heartening because it is a reflection on the Brumby Government’s record funding for health services and facilities in this state.”
 
Key findings of the life expectancy survey include:
•    A male born in Victoria in 2006 can expect to live 80.0 years while a female can expect to live 84.3 years;
•    The life expectancy at birth has increased significantly by 2 to 4 years, for both males and females, regardless of socioeconomic status, between 1996 and 2006;
•    The difference in life expectancy at birth in 2006 between rural and metropolitan Victoria was 2.0 years in males (up from 1.7 years in 2005) and 0.7 years in females (down from 1.3 years in 2005);
•    Life expectancy at birth was highest in the Eastern metropolitan region for both males (81.7 years) and females (84.9 years) and was significantly higher than the state estimate;
•    Life expectancy at birth for males in Barwon South West, Gippsland, Grampians, Hume and Loddon Mallee regions and for females in Gippsland, Grampians and Loddon Mallee regions were significantly below the state estimate; and
•    The local government area (LGA) of Nillumbik had the highest male life expectancy of 82.8 years, while Melbourne had the highest female life expectancy of 87.9 years.

(Table of life expectancy by Local Government Area attached)

Life expectancy at birth (LEB) by LGA (2002-06)