BBC News – South Korean women will be the first in the world to have an average life expectancy¹ above 90, a study suggests. Imperial College London and the World Health Organization analysed lifespans in 35 industrialised countries. It predicted all would see people living longer in 2030. The researchers said the findings posed big challenges for pensions and care for elderly people.

BBC新闻 - 一项研究表明，韩国妇女将在世界上最先达到人均预期寿命90岁以上。伦敦帝国理工学院和世卫组织分析了35个工业化国家的人口寿命。研究预测，到2030年所有这些国家的人都会更长寿。研究人员说，研究结果对养老金和照顾老年人提出了巨大挑战。

"South Korea has gotten a lot of things right," Prof Majid Ezzati told the BBC News website. "They seem to have been a more equal place and things that have benefited people - education, nutrition - have benefited most people. "And so far, they are better at dealing² with hypertension and have some of the lowest obesity³ rates in the world."

“韩国做对了很多事，”马吉德.艾扎提教授对BBC新闻网站说。“他们似乎一直拥有一个更为平等的地方，教育、营养等令人受益的事惠及了大部分人民。” “而且迄今为止，他们更好地应对了高血压，肥胖率属于世界最低之列。”

The data also forecasts that Japan, once the picture of longevity⁴, will tumble down the global rankings. It currently has the highest life expectancy for women, but will be overtaken by both South Korea and France, the study suggests. Meanwhile, male life expectancy will go from the fourth highest to 11th out of the countries studied.

数据还预测一度是长寿化身的日本全球排名将下滑。日本目前有着最高的女性预期寿命，但将被韩国和法国超越，研究表明。同时，日本男性预期寿命将从被研究国家中的第4位滑落至11位。

The US also performs poorly and is on course to have the lowest life expectancy of rich countries by 2030. The study predicts an average age of 80 for men and 83 for women - roughly the same state Mexico and Croatia will have achieved.

美国也表现不佳，正朝着到2030年成为富国中预期寿命最低的国家迈进。研究预测，美国男性平均寿命80岁，女性83岁 - 与墨西哥和克罗地亚将达到的预期寿命大致相当。

"They are almost opposite of South Korea," added Prof Ezzati. "[Society in the US is] very unequal to an extent the whole national performance is affected⁵ - it is the only country without universal health insurance. " "And it is the first country that has stopped growing taller, which shows something about early life nutrition."

“它们与韩国的情形几乎相反，”艾扎提教授说。“[美国社会]非常不平等，到了整个国家的表现都受影响的程度 - 它是唯一没有全民医保的国家。”“而且它是第一个停止长个儿的国家，这多少反映了儿童青少年的营养状况。”

The study, published in the Lancet, also shows the gap in life expectancy between women and men is closing...Much of the increases are due to improvements for the over-65s rather than reductions in deaths during childhood.

发表在《柳叶刀》上的这项研究还显示了男女之间的预期寿命差距在缩小......预期寿命增加大部分归因于65岁以上的人寿命提高，而不是儿童时期死亡减少。