National Life Expectancy Lags Behind Benchmark Progress and the Role of Smoking: An International Comparison.

ABSTRACT: Countries with low mortality show uneven success in improving longevity. Smoking-still a dominant health risk-is a major determinant of these divergent trajectories. Our study aims to determine: a) the continuing influence of smoking on national mortality trends, and b) the extent to which other factors are preventing countries from realizing their health potential. Using mortality data from 20 low-mortality countries (1950-2019), we quantify life expectancy and age-specific mortality differences as calendar years behind the current longevity frontier, defined as record smoking-eliminated life expectancy. We find that current life expectancy largely reflects smoking-eliminated records from two decades ago, with a notable gender paradox across most countries: men are moving closer to the op

SUBMITTER: Ebeling M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12708471 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature