Victorian men living longer

BOYS born in Victoria in 2004 can look forward to living longer than their counterparts in Japan, long seen as the benchmark in longevity, new figures show

The Victorian government statistics show the males born in the state in 2004 will live to be 79.6 years on average, compared with Japan's average of 78.6 years.

The average Victorian woman can expect to live to be 84.3 years with 85.6 for Japanese women.

Victorian Health Minister Bronwyn Pike said the figures showed Victoria had an increasingly healthy society.

"For many years the Japanese have been the benchmark nation for life expectancy among OECD nations.

"One of the reasons advanced for the relative improvement in male life expectancy is because more men are giving up smoking, with deaths from lung cancer falling quicker in men than in women," Ms Pike said.

The shire with the longest life expectancy in Victoria is Nillumbik, in Melbourne's northeast, where the life expectancy for men is 81.6 years.

For women, the highest life expectancy was in the City of Melbourne, where women can expect to live to be 86.5 years.

While life expectancy is high, Ms Pike said nearly 3000 Victorians died every year from alcohol-related illness or injury.

"And alcohol abuse is also hitting our hospitals hard with almost 9000 emergency presentations in 2004-05, a frightening 35 per cent increase over five years," Ms Pike said.