Who’s the oldest person in the world?
The title was most recently held by Lucile Randon, from southern France, before she died on Jan. 17 at 118 years old—making her the oldest living person at the time.
A nun known as Sister Andre, Randon was born in 1904, and had lived through major historical events—from the recent COVID-19 pandemic to her first experience with electricity in a classroom and, most notably, two world wars.
“The most beautiful day of my life was when the armistice (ending World War I) was declared,” Randon said in a May interview with Midi Libre.
Just before her 117th birthday, which she toasted with champagne, Sister Andre tested positive for COVID-19, but hardly recognized any symptoms. In fact, AP News reported she enjoyed a daily glass of wine with some chocolate when she was younger and worked until she was 108.
In a statement, French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte, recognized Sister Andre as an “altruistic personality whom the French considered as a reference, a source of pride and attachment.”
Yet, Randon isn’t the only French native to live exceptionally long. Jeanne Calment, also from southern France, died at age 122 in 1997—and maintains the record for the longest life.
According to data based on the United Nations Population Division, France is actually ranked 14th for highest life expectancy on the list of 193 countries. Japan is currently ranked as the country with the second highest life expectancy rate worldwide, and the world’s previous oldest person – Kane Tanaka – was a Japanese resident, who lived to age 119 before dying last year.
The newest oldest-living person is now Maria Branyas Morera, an American-born woman living in Spain, at 115 years old. Spain has the 7th-highest life expectancy rate.
According to the International Journal for Equity in Health, a country’s life expectancy rate depends on standards of living, effective health systems and more resources invested in necessities like sanitation, housing, education, etc. For this reason, citizens of wealthier countries typically live longer.
The U.S., however, ranked 46th for life expectancy, and has faced an increasing mortality rate since the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Health System Tracker.
“If you kill somebody off at age 50, the effect on the life expectancy is much greater than if you kill somebody off at age 75, to put it bluntly,” Stanford University’s Shripad Tuljapurkar told The Washington Post. “Consequently, we do see drops in life expectancy simply because we are losing younger people at a rate that we wouldn’t have predicted.”
Regardless of where you live, there are everyday actions you can implement into your routine that could lead to a longer life. According to The Harvard Gazette, these include:
- Eating a healthy diet
- Exercising regularly
- Keeping a healthy body weight
- Avoiding excessive alcohol
- Avoiding smoking
Global life expectancy
| Country | Life expectancy (years, male and female average) |
| Hong Kong | 85.29 |
| Japan | 85.03 |
| Macao | 84.68 |
| Switzerland | 84.25 |
| Singapore | 84.07 |
| Italy | 84.01 |
| Spain | 83.99 |
| Australia | 83.94 |
| Channel Islands | 83.60 |
| Iceland | 83.52 |
| South Korea | 83.50 |
| Israel | 83.49 |
| Sweden | 83.33 |
| France | 83.13 |
| Martinique | 83.13 |
| Malta | 83.06 |
| Canada | 82.96 |
| Norway | 82.94 |
| Ireland | 82.81 |
| New Zealand | 82.80 |
