Kyung Hee University Professor Donggeon Yeon’s Team Publishes Asia Life Expectancy Study in Nature

Kyung Hee University announced on July 25 that a research achievement from the team led by Professor Donggeon Yeon of its College of Medicine has been published in the international journal "Nature" (Impact Factor: 56.1).

(From left) Professor Donggun Yeon, Korea University; Professor Jiseung Kang, Korea University; Researcher Hyunjin Kim, Kyung Hee University. Kyung Hee University

This study comprehensively analyzed changes in life expectancy across Asia and their underlying factors by considering major diseases and risk factors. The first author is Hyunjin Kim, a researcher at Kyung Hee University Digital Health Center. The study was conducted as an international joint collaboration, involving over 900 researchers, including Professor Jiseung Kang of Korea University, the research team of Professor Jaeil Shin of Yonsei University, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, the Gates Foundation, and Harvard Medical School. The title of the article is "Mapping drivers of life expectancy change in Asia from 1990 to 2023."

According to the research team, overall life expectancy across Asia has increased over the past 30 years. In particular, South Asia showed the largest rise, increasing from 58.6 years in 1990 to 71.2 years in 2023—a gain of 12.6 years. The high-income Asia-Pacific region, which includes South Korea and Japan, also saw an increase from 77.5 to 84.1 years during the same period, maintaining the highest life expectancy in Asia. By gender, life expectancy for women was consistently higher than for men across all regions of Asia. As of 2023, life expectancy for women in the high-income Asia-Pacific region was recorded at 87.1 years, compared to 81.0 years for men.

The factors driving the increase in life expectancy varied by region. In Central and East Asia, as well as in the high-income Asia-Pacific region, advancements in treatment techniques for cardiovascular diseases such as stroke and ischemic heart disease, along with improved healthcare accessibility, played a significant role in extending life spans. In South and Southeast Asia, expanded vaccination coverage and improvements in drinking water and sanitation led to a decrease in deaths from diarrheal diseases, respiratory infections, and tuberculosis, thereby contributing to life expectancy gains.

The COVID-19 pandemic from 2019 to 2023 negatively impacted the previous upward trend in life expectancy in Asia. According to the study, Southeast Asia experienced a reduction of about 0.327 years, and East Asia saw a decrease of about 0.275 years in life expectancy. The major risk factors identified as having a negative effect on life expectancy for Asians included high blood pressure, unhealthy dietary habits, and air pollution.

Professor Donggeon Yeon stated, "Although overall health levels in Asia have greatly improved over the past 30 years, inequalities in life expectancy due to economic disparities between regions and countries remain severe. Low-income countries require expanded distribution of essential medicines and broader sanitation and vaccination programs, while high-income countries and regions with increasing chronic diseases need to strengthen preventive, customized health policies, such as hypertension management, smoking cessation, and air quality improvement."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.