Official figures show Victorian men have the longest life expectancy among all Aussie blokes at 81.3 years, while the ACT leads the way for women at 85.2 years.

And while life expectancy for all Aussie men hit a record high of 80.5 years last year, women are still outliving them by four years.

In fact, on a state-by-state basis life expectancy for women outstrips that of men across the country, the Australian Bureau of Statistics data released on Wednesday shows.

ABS demography director Anthony Grubb said that during the past half century life expectancy had increased by 12.9 years for men and 10.4 years for women.

"Australians have a higher life expectancy than our counterparts in New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the USA," he said.

Australia comes in at sixth place on the United Nations' league table for life expectancy.

Japan tops the list, followed by Switzerland and Spain.

The ABS attributes the increase in life expectancy in Australia to declining death rates, improved health services, safer workplaces, and advances in medical technology.

 Average 84.6 years

Average 80.5 years

(Source: ABS)

Australian Associated Press