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Dramatic improvements in life expectancy have occurred over the past century.
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Globally it has more than doubled and is expected to rise by another six years by 2050.
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Wealthy countries have the highest life expectancies.
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People in Japan can now expect to live beyond 84 years.
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When records began, it had 153 centenarians.
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In 2018, it had nearly 70,000.
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The people of Okinawa live longer than anywhere else in the world.
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Their secret to long life could in part be due to a low fat, low salt, mainly fish and vegetable diet.
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The five countries that have the shortest life expectancy are all in Africa.
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Lesotho is at the bottom of the ranking.
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But life expectancy across Africa has actually risen substantially since 1925.
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And it has experienced the biggest surge in recent years.
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Improvements in child survival and progress in combating infectious diseases such as HIV have contributed to the increased average lifespan.
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Across the world, the inequality gap in life expectancy between rich and poor countries is shrinking.
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A century ago,
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South Koreans' life expectancy was as low as 23 years.
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But a study of the 35 richest countries predicts a girl born in South Korea in 2030 is likely to live past her 90th birthday.
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South Korea's annual GDP per person is more than 20 times the level in 1960.
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And these economic gains have improved the nation's health.
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South Korea is predicted to leapfrog 18 other rich countries by 2030 to take Japan's top spot.
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And as countries become richer, more people should have access to better health care, pushing global life expectancy higher still.