10 Countries with the Highest Life Expectancy, 5-10

Consuming a healthy diet and not smoking seems to translate into a longer life rate for the following countries. These places complete our list of countries with the highest life expectancy.

5. Hong Kong: 81.59

People in Hong Kong generally eat a healthful and balanced diet, based around rice, vegetables, and tofu, with only small amounts of meat. This means that obesity rates are low, as are the rates for most dietary-based cancers and heart disease.

6. Japan: 81.25

Japan has one of the lowest adult obesity rates in the industrialized world, at only 3 percent. As in Hong Kong, this is mainly due to a healthful diet based around vegetables, fish, rice, and noodles. Many Japanese people also stop eating when they feel about 80 percent full, rather than continuing until they can't manage another mouthful. The Japanese are also much less reliant on cars than people in Western countries, preferring to walk whenever possible, and therefore get plenty of exercise.

7. Sweden: 80.51 (tied)

Although an economic downturn in the late 1990s did some damage to Sweden's world-renowned welfare and public health systems, they are still among the best in the world. Also, Sweden has the lowest rate of smokers in the developed world -- about 17 percent--so tobacco-related deaths are half the European average.

8. Switzerland: 80.51 (tied)

Aside from a stable economy with all of the usual factors that increase longevity, such as a healthful diet and high standard of health care, Switzerland's much-vaunted neutrality means that its inhabitants are highly unlikely to die in an armed conflict.

9. Australia: 80.50

All the usual factors relating to prosperity apply here, but the life expectancy of indigenous Australians is about 20 years less than that of white Aussies, due to higher rates of just about every factor that shortens life, including smoking, obesity, and poverty. Incidentally, research suggests that Australia's life expectancy may start falling as obesity reaches epidemic proportions in the land down under.

10. Guernsey: 80.42

The island of Guernsey, located in the English Channel, is a British Crown dependency, but it is not part of the UK. The reason for its high life expectancy is simple: it's extremely wealthy. Very low taxes make Guernsey a popular destination for tax exiles who can afford the very best in nutrition and medical care. More than half of the island's income comes from financial services -- which means well-paid desk jobs -- with very few people working in heavy industry.

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS:

Helen Davies, Marjorie Dorfman, Mary Fons, Deborah Hawkins, Martin Hintz, Linnea Lundgren, David Priess, Julia Clark Robinson, Paul Seaburn, Heidi Stevens, and Steve Theunissen