Bielefeld, Germany  - Only one out of 10 Germans desire eternal life, according to a survey of 1,002 people conducted in January by the opinion research company Emnid based in Bielefeld, Germany.

The survey also showed that only 2 per cent of those questioned would like to live to be 150 or 300 years old, while 8 per cent desire a life span of 110 years. Fifty-six per cent would like to live to be 90 years old, and 16 per cent said they would be satisfied with 70 years.

How long people want to live apparently is dependent on age: 20 per cent of the participants in the survey between the ages of 14 and 20 said they wanted to live forever. Among people in the middle age group the percentage saying they wanted eternal life sank to 10 per cent, while in the over-60 group it was 3 per cent.

The differences are apparently due to concerns about illness and other problems that increase with age, according to April edition of Reader's Digest, which commissioned the survey. (dpa)