The secret to a longer, healthier life is … move to Australia

For decades, Britons have been lured to Australia by the promise of year-round sunshine and beautiful beaches. Now there is another tempting reason to move down under: the chance to live longer.
A study has found that Australians outlive their peers in wealthy English-speaking countries including the UK, America, Canada, Ireland and New Zealand.
Life expectancy in Australia is two years longer than in the UK and nearly five years longer than in America, which lags behind all the other English-speaking nations.
Experts said this was partly a result of healthier and happier lifestyles in Australia, including lower rates of smoking and drug abuse, as well as better treatments for heart disease and cancer.
Researchers compared the trends in life expectancy for men and women between 1990 and 2018 across the six nations, finding that Australia has been “clearly the best-performing anglophone country” for the past three decades.
The latest data, for 2018, shows that a baby boy in Australia has a life expectancy of 81, while for a baby girl it is 85 on average. In comparison, life expectancy in the UK is 79 for men and 83 for women, while in America it is 76 for men and 81 for women.
New Zealand, Ireland and Canada all perform slightly better than the UK and the US, but none are able to match Australia for longevity.
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The research, led by a team at Pennsylvania State University, found that most of the gains in life expectancy in Australia accrue after the age of 45.
This is partly because of better treatment and early diagnosis for diseases that predominantly affect middle-aged adults, including heart disease and cancer, which are the biggest killers in this age group.
The study, published in the journal BMJ Open, praised Australia’s “strong public health efforts” including low smoking rates and the high uptake of vaccinations. It also has good mental health support for young adults, which reduces preventable deaths including from suicide.
Another factor is the high level of immigration in Australia, with about 30 per cent of the population born overseas. “Prior studies have found that immigrants, who tend to have higher life expectancy than the native-born, can make important contributions to national life expectancy,” the study said.
Rates of drug and alcohol abuse, which are some of the biggest killers in young adults, are significantly lower in Australia than in Canada and the US.
Authors Dr Rachel Wilkie and Dr Jessica Ho said: “Australia offers a potential model for lower-performing anglophone countries, such as the USA and UK, to follow to reduce both premature mortality and inequalities in life expectancy.”
This could include better cancer screening services, and a greater focus on preventing heart disease in middle age.
Australia was also found to have less of a life expectancy gap within its country between rich and poor areas or different regions. In comparison, there are high disparities and a strong north-south divide in the UK. Men in the wealthiest areas of the UK live nearly a decade longer than those in the poorest regions.
The study looked at official annual statistics showing the life expectancy at birth since 1990, comparing six anglophone countries which share a “common language and some cultural similarities in diet and lifestyle”.
It said: “Among these high-income anglophone countries, Australia has been the best performer in life expectancy at birth since the early 1990s. For most of the period between 1990 and 2019, Canada had the second highest life expectancy. Most recently, Ireland and New Zealand converged with Canada. In every year since 2001, the USA has been the worst performer. In the most recent decade, the UK generally had the second-lowest life expectancy.”