A team of researchers says they’ve finally determined the maximum age a human being can live — and the findings may actually ease some of the anxiety around mortality.
While life expectancy differs worldwide — averaging 78.4 years in the U.S., 81.2 in the U.K., and 81.6 in Canada — scientists now suggest that, under ideal conditions, the human body could endure well beyond these averages.
Researchers from Tilburg University and Erasmus University Rotterdam joined forces to explore the ultimate biological limits of human life, assuming no external threats such as disease or accidents. Their conclusions, based on three decades of demographic data, turned out to be strikingly precise.
The team analyzed records from more than 75,000 deceased individuals in the Netherlands between 1987 and 2017, meticulously noting their exact ages at death to see when human longevity appears to plateau.
After examining the data, the scientists found that life expectancy tends to level off around 90 years old. Still, many people exceed that depending on genetics and lifestyle choices. In other words, while most lives peak in the nineties, a small fraction push those limits further.
The research concluded that it’s exceptionally rare for anyone to live past 115 years, and a subtle gender difference emerged in the results. According to the data, women appear to have a maximum lifespan of 115.7 years, while men reach slightly less at 114.1 years.
Commenting on the discovery, Professor John Einmahl, one of the lead authors, told AFP: “On average, people live longer, but the very oldest among us have not gotten older over the last thirty years.”
He added, “There is certainly some kind of a wall here. Of course, the average life expectancy has increased. Nevertheless, the maximum ceiling itself hasn’t changed.”
Still, Einmahl acknowledged that a few remarkable outliers continue to defy the odds. Among them was Japan’s Jiroemon Kimura, who still holds the Guinness World Record for the longest confirmed human lifespan — 116 years and 54 days.
Currently, the world’s oldest living woman is Ethel Caterham, aged 116 years and 48 days. Born in 1909 in Hampshire, England, she once worked as an au pair in India, witnessed two world wars, and even survived COVID-19 in 2020. On her 116th birthday, she received a message from João Marinho Neto of Brazil, born in 1912, who is recognized as the world’s oldest living man.
