Israeli Men Have Fourth-Highest Life Expectancy, According to World Health Organization

Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
Israeli men have the fourth-highest life expectancy of any nationality, according to recently released statistics from the World Health Organization.
Israeli men born in 2012 can expect to live just more than 80 years, a figure that ranks behind only Iceland, Switzerland and Australia. Icelandic men born two years ago, according to the WHO’s World Health Statistics 2014, will enjoy an average 81 years of life.
Israeli women did not make the World Health Statistics top-ten list, but a separate WHO data set shows Israeli women born in 2012 with a life expectancy of 84, equal to Portugal, which placed tenth on the list. Japanese women placed first, with an average life expectancy of 87.
Israel was the only Middle Eastern country on either top-ten list. Most of the countries on both lists were European, and the United States did not make either list.
Thousands of Forward readers support our nonprofit newsroom.
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
