Japanese life expectancy sees 1st decline in 10 years amid pandemic

The average life expectancy of Japanese women and men declined for the first time in 10 years in 2021, health ministry data showed Friday, as the country battled with the COVID-19 pandemic.The average life span for women was 87.57 years, down by 0.14 year from a year earlier, while that of men shrank 0.09 year to 81.47 years, according to the data.It was the first decline since 2011, when a massive earthquake and tsunami hit northeastern Japan, causing meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex and leaving more than 15,000 dead and scores of people unaccounted for.A ministry officia…READ FULL ARTICLE