Advances in medicine, rising prosperity and living standards in general, reduced infant mortality and other factors have done their job: as Deutsche Welle notes, the average life expectancy in Germany today is about 78 years for men and more than 83 years for women. For comparison: the average life expectancy for Russian men is 13 years lower, and for Ukrainians even 16 years lower than for Germans. Nevertheless, in Germany the new statistical data was received with some concern.
No, not because life expectancy suddenly began to decline — it is actually increasing. And not because the retirement age was raised not long ago (it was 65, now 67). The Germans were alarmed by regional differences. For instance, in the city of Pirmasens in southwestern Germany, men live on average 73 years, while in Bavarian Starnberg, on the shore of a picturesque lake, they live ten years longer. What is the reason?
Well, the 'extremes' of the ranking are more or less clear. Starnberg is a well-known resort, and well-off German pensioners like to spend the 'twilight years of their lives' (as described by real estate agents' brochures) there. Pirmasens and its surroundings, on the other hand, are among the rainiest regions in Germany. Moreover, it rains here all year round, even in summer. The 'driest' month, oddly enough, is April.
Analyzing other regional differences is more difficult for experts. For example, in southern Germany, average life expectancy should be higher than in the north — even if it is not as cold as, say, the Arctic, but still... But there is practically no difference. Perhaps in rural areas, where life is healthier and the air cleaner, people live longer than in large metropolitan areas? Also no. Hamburg, Cologne, Munich, Berlin are among the leaders of the ranking.
Eastern Germany differs little from Western Germany either. In Rostock, the figures are exactly in line with the German average, and in Dresden they are even higher.
In Russia and Ukraine, the lowest life expectancy is in industrial regions. It is believed that alcohol is primarily to blame. Be that as it may, in Germany, life expectancy in industrial regions is also somewhat lower than the national average. For example, in the Ruhr region (in the recent past, the main center of coal mining and steel production in Germany), men live on average just over 75 years. But in the university city of Münster, which is only an hour away, the average life expectancy for men is more than four years longer.
German experts tried to find a statistical relationship between various factors affecting the life expectancy of Germans, dividing them into five groups depending on income level. They found that the difference between the 'richest' and the 'poorest' among men is more than ten years. Do the 'poor' drink more? But the differences are also large among women: the 'rich' live almost 9 years longer than the 'poor' (of course, wealth and poverty here are relative concepts).
The German Red Cross has established: the lower the socio-economic status, the higher the risk of various diseases — from heart attack and stroke to metabolic disorders and even cancer. But can these indisputable data obtained from numerous studies be 'projected' onto the issue of life expectancy? Opinions differ here.