For the first time ever, projections of Australian life expectancy have been dropped by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

While boys and girls born in 2061 are expected to live 85.2 and 88.3 years respectively, now those born in 2066 are expected to live about two years less.

The drop has been attributed to obesity rates, a high number of road accidents, and an increasing suicide rate.

Social Demographer Mark McCrindle tells Natalie Peters and Erin Molan improvements in life expectancy have stalled.

“The longevity gains that we thought were pointing on this onward and upward pathway towards longer and longer life, they’ve eased off the extent of that life.

“We’re still going to live longer, but not to the speed of the growth of longevity as we once had.”

He says we’ve made such strides in the medical field that it’s hard to see what further improvements can be made.

“We’ve become a victim of that success in that it’s hard to find any new gains to see that life expectancy increase.”

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