London: The average British man can now expect to live for another 16.4 years after retiring at 65, two years more than he did a decade earlier, according to life assurance company Paternoster.

In comparison, the rise in male life expectancy in the United States and France was 1.2 years, with no increase at all in Russia, and 1.8 years in Germany.

Britain was also closing in on the United States, where the average man can expect to live for a further 16.7 years after retiring at the age of 65.

In addition, the difference between Britain and Mediterranean countries such as Italy and Spain had halved during the past decade.

But in terms of average male life expectancy, Japanese top the table with 83 years, followed by Canada, France and Italy at just over 82, while Britain lags behind with just over 81 years.

Meanwhile, British women can expect to live until they are just over 84 years old, an increase in life expectancy of only 1.2 years during the last 10 years.

Researchers attributed this trend to a massive reduction in cigarette smoking since the 1970s and the fall in deaths from heart disease.

The research was based on figures from the British government’s Actuary’s Department and the Human Mortality Database.

It covered people from the Group of Eight industrialised counties — Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Britain, the United States and Russia.