WASHINGTON, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- U.S. life expectancy
has reached an all-time high, with people born in 2005 projected to live for
nearly 78 years, a new federal study finds.
The finding, released here by U.S. Census Bureau
Wednesday, reflects a continuing trend of increasing life expectancy that began
in 1955, when the average American lived to be 69.6 years old.
By 1995, life expectancy was 75.8 years, and by 2005,
it had risen to 77.9 years.
However, despite the upward trend, the country still
has a lower life expectancy than some 40 other countries and regions.
The country with the longest life expectancy is
Andorra at 83.5years.
Much of the increase owes to declining death rates
from the three leading causes of death in the country -- heart disease, cancer
and stroke.
In addition, in 2005, the U.S. death rate dropped to
an all time low of less than 800 deaths per 100,000.
