Life expectancy in Australia has fallen slightly for the second straight year, according to the data released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Beidar Cho, ABS head of demography, said: “A boy born today is expected to live to 81.1 years and a girl to 85.1 years.”

“The years 2021-2023 saw the highest number of COVID-19 deaths with 15,982 in Australia, which was up by 4,100 from 2020-2022.”

“As a result, life expectancy has fallen by 0.1 years for men and 0.2 years for women over this period.”

“Despite this decrease, Australians still have a higher life expectancy than many comparable countries, like New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and Canada."

Today, a 60-year-old Australian man can expect to live another 24.2 years and a woman another 27.1 years.

This is longer than life expectancy at birth, as 60-year-olds have already survived the first several decades of life.

The Australian Capital Territory had the highest male life expectancy of 81.7 years, followed by Western Australia (81.6 years) and Victoria (81.5 years).

The Australian Capital Territory and Western Australia had the highest female life expectancy (85.7 years), followed by Victoria (85.4 years) and New South Wales (85.2 years).

The Northern Territory had the lowest life expectancy for both men (76.4 years) and women (80.4 years). It, however, saw the largest rise in male and female life expectancies from 2013-2023, with 1.5 years and 1.2 years respectively.