But the good news – at least for romantics – is that the gap is closing. While both sexes are expected to live longer in future, men’s life expectancy is growing faster than women’s. New figures from the Office For National Statistics show that, over the past 30 years, the average life expectancy for women has increased from 78 to 82.4. But men have added a whopping seven years to their allotted time, from 72 to 79. And the richest men can expect to live to 82.5, meaning that, for the first time, they will outlive an “average” woman.