Not until the end of February 2026 Bruno Kant, the oldest man in Germany, celebrated his 110th birthday. Kant himself is not entirely at ease with the fact that he has reached such a proud age. “I don’t understand God why I’ve gotten so old and what he plans to do with me,” he told the German Press Agency. Two of his siblings also celebrated their 106th and 108th birthdays.

But how long can a person live? American scientists, including Harvard researchers, looked into this question in more detail in 2024. Their findings were published in the specialist magazine “Nature aging” published.

The trend towards life expectancy continues

In their study, the researchers ultimately came to the conclusion that the increase in life expectancy has slowed since 1990. Additionally, it is unlikely that more than 15 percent of women and more than five percent of men Live to be 100 years old.

Unless the The process of biological aging is not significantly slowed down“a radical increase in human life expectancy this century is unlikely,” write the researchers led by S. Jay Olshansky. The scientists defined a radical increase in life expectancy as 0.3 years per year and thus three years per decade.

Two countries showed “radical extension of life expectancy”

In their study, the research team analyzed the vital statistics of the eight countries with the longest-living populations.

These included Australia, France, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland – as well as the USA and Hong Kong between 1990 and 2019. On this basis, they examined current trends in death rates and life expectancy.

A radical increase in life expectancy was only seen among people in South Korea and Hong Kong. In Hong Kong, at least between 1990 and 2000, this was due to economic prosperity and control of tobacco. The researchers did not identify any other causes – including for South Korea.

Life expectancy increased by 6.5 years in the countries examined

In all other countries, the increase in life expectancy slowed to less than 0.2 years per year. In general, it rose more slowly in all countries in the 2010s – including South Korea and Hong Kong – than in the 1990s. On average, life expectancy at birth increased by 6.5 years in the ten countries between 1990 and 2019.

The average chance of babies born this year living to 100 was 5.1 percent for women and 1.8 percent for men. In Hong Kong, the likelihood of joining the 100-year-old club was highest, with a probability of 12.8 percent among women and 4.4 percent among men.

How to extend your life by 20 years

Although the finite nature of life can be somewhat depressing, 100 years is of course still a proud age. Up to a certain point, we can do something ourselves to become a human dinosaur – or at least to extend our lifespan by a few years.

So did researchers at Harvard Medical School in a study Identified eight lifestyle factors that can be influenced, with which men and women can live more than 20 years longer – even if they only start a healthy lifestyle in midlife.

• regular physical activity
• no opioid addiction
• no smoking
• good stress management (no depression or anxiety disorders)
• healthy, predominantly plant-based diet
• no excessive alcohol consumption (“binge drinking” queried, corresponds to more than five glasses on one drinking occasion)
• good sleep quality
• positive social relationships

Unhealthy lifestyle causes the majority of heart diseases

The background is that certain lifestyle factors play a role in the development of chronic diseases that increase the risk of mortality. According to this, 80 percent of coronary heart disease and 50 percent of cancer mortality can be attributed to non-adherence to a healthy lifestyle.

In the study, the scientists evaluated data from more than 700,000 men and women from the “Veterans Affairs Million Veteran Program” over a period of eight years. They asked about the eight lifestyle factors. 33,375 of the test subjects died during the follow-up period.

Ultimately, the researchers came to the conclusion:

• Health-conscious men live an average of 24 years longer .
  Men who exhibit all eight healthy lifestyle factors by age 40 live an average of 24 years longer compared to men who do not have any of these habits. This means that the health-conscious person will be 63 years old and the health-conscious person will be 87 years old.
• Health-conscious women live an average of 21 years longer .
  Women who practice all eight healthy lifestyle factors by age 40 live an average of 21 years longer compared to women who do not have any of these habits. This means that the health-conscious person only lives to be 67 years old, while the health-conscious person lives to be 87 years old.