Turkey ranks 37th out of the 47 countries included on a recent life expectancy list released by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

According to the OECD’s Health at a Glance 2013, life expectancy among OECD nations was lowest in Turkey (74) and Hungary (71), followed by the Slovak Republic (75.2).

Nearly all OECD and emerging countries have experienced large gains in life expectancy over the past 40 years. Life expectancy at birth in Turkey, Korea and Mexico has increased by twenty years or more over the period 1970-2010, the report said. “While life expectancy in Hungary has increased only modestly since 1970, it has increased sharply in Turkey, so that it is quickly approaching the OECD average,” the report also noted.

The report noted: “On average across OECD countries, life expectancy at birth for the whole population reached 79.7 years in 2010, a gain of almost 10 years since 1970. Japan leads a large group (including almost two-thirds of OECD countries) in which the total life expectancy at birth is currently 80 years or more.”

Cihan