If you want to emphasize that it was a long time then you should say:
Itâs been a long time since we last met (5 years ago).
You can also say:
It has been ( Itâs been) five years since we last met.
This one emphasizes how long it actually was.
If it was that you met 5 years ago for the first time you just drop âlastâ
Itâs been a long time since we met 5 years ago.
In a spoken/ written language friends would usually say:
We have not seen each other for the past 5 years!
Itâs been ages since we (last) saw each other/ met.