The secret to living a longer and more healthy life? Just move to Australia
14 August 2024, 08:01
Australia has long tempted British people to move Down Under because of its better weather and more relaxed way of life - but now it seems people who make the switch could live longer too.
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Researchers say Australians have a lower death rate for some cancers, as well as heart and lung diseases - and fewer deaths from drugs or alcohol than people in the UK.
The new study, published in the British Medical Journal, looked at life expectancies in Australia compared with five high-income English-speaking countries including the UK, Ireland, the United States, Canada and New Zealand.
The researchers, from the University of Southern California and Pennsylvania State University in the US, concluded that Australia is the "clear best performer" when it comes to life expectancy at birth.
They found that, in 2018, baby girls in Australia could expect to live for up to four years longer than their peers in the other countries studied.
Baby boys may live for almost five years longer.
The academics said Australia has a four- to five-year life expectancy advantage over the USA and a one- to 2.5-year advantage over Canada, New Zealand, Ireland and the UK.
The authors wrote: "Australia has achieved the highest life expectancy among Anglophone countries and tends to rank well in international comparisons of life expectancy overall.
"Australia performs particularly well in terms of mortality from external causes (including drug- and alcohol-related deaths), screenable/treatable cancers, cardiovascular disease and influenza/pneumonia and other respiratory diseases compared with other countries."
