People around world are living longer now.... including those in Africa... thanks to the countries' efforts to fight AIDS and other infectious diseases.
Our Cha Sang-mi has more.
Global life expectancy jumped by 5-point-5 years between 2000 and 2016,... yet unequal income and access to healthcare means many will have far shorter lives.
The World Health Organization says that, on average, a child born in 2016 is expected to live 72 years, up from 66-point-5 years in 2000.
The UN health agency says the African region saw the greatest rise during the time, where life expectancy increased by 10-point-3 years to 61-point-2 years.
The WHO attributed the rise to dramatic drops in death rates among children under five, especially in sub-Saharan Africa,... where advances have been made against HIV and AIDS through expanded access to anti-retrovirals... and where there's been a reduction in other communicable diseases, such as measles.
This is the fastest increase in life expectancy since the 1960s, as the world reversed the declines of the 1990s, when life expectancy fell in Africa due to the AIDS epidemic, and in Eastern Europe following the collapse of the Soviet Union.
But despite progress in poorer countries, the WHO said life expectancy gaps are significant, with people from low-income countries living 18 less years on average than those in high-income countries.
The WHO also shed light on significant gender differences in life expectancy worldwide.
Girls born in 2016 can expect to live to over 74, while boys on average won't quite reach 70, according to the annual report.
Cha Sang-mi, Arirang News.