Question:
Do people believe human lifespan will reach 130 years?
Answer:
From our recent Risk of Living Longer survey answers, it seems more people believe that human lifespan will eventually reach 130 years than don’t – though many think it won’t happen for a long time.
Within the longevity world there is an active debate around the maximum achievable human lifespan. Some schools of thought believe we’ve pretty much reached our maximum. Others believe extreme long life might be just around the corner. The three longest documented lifespans to date are Jeanne Calment (122 years, 1997, France), Kane Tanaka (119 years, 2022, Japan) and Sarah Knauss (119, 1999, US), so we still appear to be a long way from reaching 130. But will we ever get there?
The chart below shows the responses to our recent Risk of Living Longer survey (a survey of the audience of our Risk of Living Longer webinar series with about 70 respondents).
Key Takeaways
- About a third of our respondents believe that a 130 year lifespan will be achievable in the next 50 years.
- Nearly three quarters of our respondents think we will eventually reach a 130 year lifespan
- Just over a quarter of our respondents believe we will never get there.
- In our survey, actuaries seemed more sceptical of a 130 year life span than non-actuaries.
The key questions are:
- Will anyone to live to 130 years of age?
- And if so, will anyone be paying them a lifetime annuity?
What do you think?
Join the discussion on LinkedIn.