The average life expectancy fell for both Japanese men and women for the second consecutive year in 2022, a health ministry survey showed Friday.
The average life expectancy last declined for both sexes two years in a row in 2010 and 2011.
In 2022, the average life expectancy for men fell 0.42 years from 2021 to 81.05 years, and that for women dropped 0.49 years to 87.09 years. The drops were "largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic," a ministry official said.