The trend may well continue for a few decades, given that from 1950 to 2000 the life expectancies of elderly people in affluent countries rose at about 34 days per year. But without fundamental discoveries that change the way we age, this trend to longer life must weaken and finally end. The long-term trajectory of Japanese female life expectancy—which increased from 81.91 years in 1990 to 87.26 years in 2017—fits a symmetrical logistic curve that is already close to its asymptote of about 90 years.
