Figures from the Continuous Mortality Investigation (CMI), part of the actuarial profession, showed that the mortality rate for men aged 65 in 2002 was 29 per cent better than in 1994, while life expectancy for women improved 33 per cent in the same period.

The CMI had brought forward its research, traditionally released every 12 years, because it was alarmed at the rapid changes in life expectancy. The last time that the CMI released new mortality tables, used to calculate companies’ pensions liabilities and set annuity rates, was in 1995.

Brian Ridsdale, chairman of the CMI, said that even actuaries, who are experts in predicting life expectancy, were shocked by the rapid improvement in lifespans. “A 30 per cent change in eight years is a fantastic improvement in survival rates,” he said. “We’re delighted to see that mortality is so much lower.”

The improvement was so remarkable that the CMI will no longer issue a single life expectancy table, Mr Ridsdale said. “All estimates of future mortality carry considerable uncertainty,” he said. “Issues of individual choice, such as diet, smoking and drugs, have the potential to slow down or even reverse mortality improvements.”

In future, the CMI will reveal its complete analysis and allow individual actuaries and insurers to work out their own mortality projections.

In 1994, of 10,000 men aged 65, 181 could be expected to die within a year. Yesterday’s figures, based on data from 1999 to 2002, showed that this had slowed to 129 deaths per 10,000. The improvement for 65-year-old women was even greater, with deaths down from 110 to 74 per 10,000.

There was a 25 per cent improvement for 75-year-old men and a 24 per cent improvement for women of the same age, while the improvement for 85-year-olds was 15 per cent and 10 per cent, respectively.

Billy Burrows, of William Burrows Annuities, said that yesterday’s figures were unlikely to have a dramatic effect on annuity rates, which have already plunged in recent years as insurers became increasingly concerned about mortality improvements. Mr Burrows said that because of the fall in rates, investors currently make £500 a year less on a £100,000 investment than two years ago.

Likewise, actuaries have already begun taking into account improved lifespans when calculating how many years companies will have to pay pensions to employees. This has led many employers to close final salary schemes because they can no longer afford them.

There is also concern over the growing cost of public sector pensions, which has doubled to £500 billion in just over ten years. Sir Digby Jones, the Director-General of the CBI, this week warned the Labour Party conference that “little has been done to address public sector provision in the face of people living longer and healthier lives”.

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