The gap between male and female life expectancy is closing and men could catch up by 2030, according to an adviser for the Office for National Statistics, BBC reported.

Life expectancy is going up all-round , but the rates for men are increasing faster. Plummeting smoking rates with men, are thought to explain a lot of the change.

Les Mayhew, a professor of statistics at Cass Business School, analyzed life expectancy data in England and Wales. His findings show that men had been languishing far behind for decades, but now starting to get closer to women.

If the current trend continue, Prof Mayhew predicts, both sexes could, on average, be living to the age of 87 in 2030.

(China.org.cn April 27, 2012)

據英國廣播公司報道，英國國家統計局顧問表示，男女壽命差距正在縮小，到2030年，男人將和女人活得一樣長。

人的壽命正在延長，但男人的壽命增長的速度更快，吸煙率直線下降是主要原因。

卡斯商學院的統計學教授里斯·梅休對英格蘭人和威爾士人的壽命數據進行了研究。他發現，過去幾十年間，男人的壽命一直比女人短，但現在正逐漸接近女人的壽命。

梅休預測，如果這個趨勢一直保持下去，男女兩性的平均壽命在2030年都將達到87歲。