Society

Healthy life expectancy in Japan hit record highs

Dec 29 (NHK) - Japan's health ministry says healthy life expectancy for men and women in the country has hit record highs.

The ministry conducts a survey on about 200,000 households nationwide every three years and releases estimated figures.

Healthy life expectancy is the number of years people can lead a social life without receiving nursing care.

The ministry says that as of 2019, healthy life expectancy was 75.38 for women and 72.68 for men.

The figures for both men and women have been increasing since the survey began in 2001.

By prefecture, women in Mie and men in Oita have the longest healthy life expectancy.

Women in Kyoto and men in Iwate have the shortest.

The ministry says fewer people need nursing care and many seniors continue to engage in social activities.

The ministry also says it will keep an eye on whether the coronavirus pandemic will affect healthy life expectancy.

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