Americans living longer than ever before: report

0 Comments | AFP, September, 2007

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Americans are living longer than ever, with the average life expectancy reaching 78 years in 2005, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Wednesday.

But despite the steady upward climb of longevity, the United States was still far behind Japan, Andorra and Italy, where statistics compiled by the World Health Organization (WHO) show that life expectancy exceeds 80 years.

The CDC report, based on preliminary data for 2005, showed that life expectancy in the United States has risen steadily in the past 50 years.

Americans lived for around 69 years in 1955, and 76 years in 1995, the study showed.

The age-adjusted death rate also fell to an all-time low in 2005, bottoming out at fewer than 800 deaths per 100,000...