Japanese women have world’s longest life

Japanese women remained to be the world's longest-living last year, though their average life expectancy fell slightly to 86.39 years, according to media reports Thursday. The fall of 0.05 years was the first decline in five years, falling from a record 86.44 registered in 2009. "Last year's heat wave probably led to an increase in deaths resulting from heat stroke and heart trouble," said a Japanese government official. Among countries and regions in the world, Japan ranked first for women's longevity, followed by Hong Kong at 85.9 years and France at 84.8 years. The average life expectancy of Japanese men hit a new high for the fifth straight year in 2010, rising 0.05 to 79.64 years. Japan ranked fourth in men's longevity after Hong Kong at 80.0 years, Switzerland at 79.8 years and Israel at 79.7 years.