Life expectancy at birth
Average number of years a newborn would live if that year's mortality stayed the same all its life.
Open the interactive mapslider 1800 → 2024, charts, continent comparisonCross with another indicatorscatter plot, correlations
25 yrs35 yrs45 yrs55 yrs65 yrs75 yrs85 yrs
no data
In 2024, 168 countries have a value. Highest: Singapore (85.6 yrs), Switzerland (84.5 yrs), Japan (84.3 yrs). Lowest: Central African Republic (55.3 yrs), South Sudan (56.5 yrs), Chad (58.1 yrs). World (population-weighted average): 74.2 yrs. France: 82.8 yrs (13th of 168).
Country ranking in 2024
| Rank | Country | Value |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Singapore | 85.6 yrs |
| 2 | Switzerland its history → | 84.5 yrs |
| 3 | Japan | 84.3 yrs |
| 4 | Australia its history → | 84.1 yrs |
| 5 | Israel | 83.6 yrs |
| 6 | South Korea | 83.5 yrs |
| 7 | Luxembourg | 83.4 yrs |
| 8 | Sweden its history → | 83.4 yrs |
| 9 | Spain its history → | 83.3 yrs |
| 10 | Italy | 83.2 yrs |
| 11 | Malta | 83.2 yrs |
| 12 | Norway | 83.2 yrs |
| 13 | France its history → | 82.8 yrs |
| 14 | Iceland | 82.8 yrs |
| 15 | Ireland | 82.7 yrs |
| 16 | Belgium | 82.3 yrs |
| 17 | Portugal its history → | 82.2 yrs |
| 18 | Netherlands its history → | 82.1 yrs |
| 19 | Austria | 82 yrs |
| 20 | Canada | 82 yrs |
| 21 | Finland | 81.9 yrs |
| 22 | Slovenia | 81.8 yrs |
| 23 | Denmark | 81.7 yrs |
| 24 | New Zealand | 81.7 yrs |
| 25 | Qatar | 81.5 yrs |
| 26 | Kuwait | 81.3 yrs |
| 27 | United Kingdom | 81.1 yrs |
| 28 | Greece | 81.1 yrs |
| 29 | Chile | 81 yrs |
| 30 | Germany its history → | 81 yrs |
| 31 | Cyprus | 80.7 yrs |
| 32 | United Arab Emirates | 80.3 yrs |
| 33 | Colombia | 80.3 yrs |
| 34 | China | 80.1 yrs |
| 35 | Czechia | 80.1 yrs |
| 36 | Albania | 79.8 yrs |
| 37 | Armenia | 79.7 yrs |
| 38 | Costa Rica | 79.6 yrs |
| 39 | Panama | 79.4 yrs |
| 40 | Iran | 79 yrs |
| 41 | Lebanon | 79 yrs |
| 42 | Estonia | 78.8 yrs |
| 43 | Croatia | 78.8 yrs |
| 44 | Poland | 78.8 yrs |
| 45 | Jordan | 78.7 yrs |
| 46 | United States | 78.7 yrs |
| 47 | Slovakia | 78.4 yrs |
| 48 | Brunei | 78.3 yrs |
| 49 | Cuba | 78.3 yrs |
| 50 | Bosnia & Herzegovina | 77.8 yrs |
| 51 | Argentina its history → | 77.7 yrs |
| 52 | Thailand | 77.7 yrs |
| 53 | Uruguay | 77.6 yrs |
| 54 | Montenegro | 77.3 yrs |
| 55 | Peru | 77.3 yrs |
| 56 | Oman | 77.2 yrs |
| 57 | Brazil | 77.1 yrs |
| 58 | North Macedonia | 77.1 yrs |
| 59 | Hungary its history → | 77 yrs |
| 60 | Ecuador | 76.9 yrs |
| 61 | Nicaragua | 76.9 yrs |
| 62 | Sri Lanka | 76.8 yrs |
| 63 | Lithuania | 76.8 yrs |
| 64 | Mexico | 76.5 yrs |
| 65 | Malaysia | 76.5 yrs |
| 66 | Romania | 76.5 yrs |
| 67 | Türkiye | 76.3 yrs |
| 68 | Algeria | 76.2 yrs |
| 69 | Honduras | 76.2 yrs |
| 70 | Jamaica | 76.2 yrs |
| 71 | Vietnam | 76.2 yrs |
| 72 | Bulgaria | 76.1 yrs |
| 73 | Moldova | 76.1 yrs |
| 74 | Serbia | 76.1 yrs |
| 75 | Latvia | 75.9 yrs |
| 76 | Syria | 75.9 yrs |
| 77 | Tunisia | 75.8 yrs |
| 78 | Belize | 75.3 yrs |
| 79 | Kyrgyzstan | 75.3 yrs |
| 80 | Kazakhstan | 75 yrs |
| 81 | Georgia | 74.9 yrs |
| 82 | Saudi Arabia | 74.8 yrs |
| 83 | Belarus | 74.7 yrs |
| 84 | North Korea | 73.8 yrs |
| 85 | Ukraine its history → | 73.8 yrs |
| 86 | Nepal | 73.7 yrs |
| 87 | Mongolia | 73.4 yrs |
| 88 | Guatemala | 73.3 yrs |
| 89 | Russia | 73.3 yrs |
| 90 | El Salvador | 73.3 yrs |
| 91 | Suriname | 73.3 yrs |
| 92 | Trinidad & Tobago | 73.3 yrs |
| 93 | Dominican Republic | 73.2 yrs |
| 94 | Cambodia | 73.2 yrs |
| 95 | Morocco | 73.2 yrs |
| 96 | Paraguay | 73.2 yrs |
| 97 | Bahamas | 72.9 yrs |
| 98 | Bhutan | 72.9 yrs |
| 99 | Azerbaijan | 72.8 yrs |
| 100 | Indonesia | 72.7 yrs |
| 101 | Uzbekistan | 72.6 yrs |
| 102 | Philippines | 72.2 yrs |
| 103 | Bolivia | 72 yrs |
| 104 | Venezuela | 72 yrs |
| 105 | Libya | 71.9 yrs |
| 106 | Tajikistan | 71.9 yrs |
| 107 | India its history → | 71.8 yrs |
| 108 | Yemen | 71.8 yrs |
| 109 | Bangladesh | 71.3 yrs |
| 110 | Iraq | 71.2 yrs |
| 111 | Turkmenistan | 71.2 yrs |
| 112 | Vanuatu | 70.5 yrs |
| 113 | Senegal | 70.3 yrs |
| 114 | Botswana | 70.2 yrs |
| 115 | Egypt | 70.2 yrs |
| 116 | Pakistan | 70.2 yrs |
| 117 | Kenya | 70.1 yrs |
| 118 | Timor-Leste | 70.1 yrs |
| 119 | Palestine | 69.9 yrs |
| 120 | Tanzania | 69.6 yrs |
| 121 | Guyana | 69.1 yrs |
| 122 | Sudan | 69.1 yrs |
| 123 | Afghanistan | 68.8 yrs |
| 124 | Djibouti | 68.6 yrs |
| 125 | Mauritania | 68.3 yrs |
| 126 | Burkina Faso | 67.9 yrs |
| 127 | Fiji | 67.9 yrs |
| 128 | Gambia | 67.5 yrs |
| 129 | Gabon | 67.2 yrs |
| 130 | South Africa | 66.7 yrs |
| 131 | Zimbabwe | 66.6 yrs |
| 132 | Namibia | 66.5 yrs |
| 133 | Papua New Guinea | 66.5 yrs |
| 134 | Benin | 66.4 yrs |
| 135 | Laos | 66.3 yrs |
| 136 | Uganda | 65.8 yrs |
| 137 | Ghana | 65.6 yrs |
| 138 | Myanmar (Burma) | 65.6 yrs |
| 139 | Mozambique | 65.1 yrs |
| 140 | Ethiopia | 65 yrs |
| 141 | Somalia | 65 yrs |
| 142 | Rwanda | 64.9 yrs |
| 143 | Togo | 64.7 yrs |
| 144 | Nigeria | 64.6 yrs |
| 145 | Angola | 64.5 yrs |
| 146 | Côte d’Ivoire | 64.5 yrs |
| 147 | Congo - Brazzaville | 63.9 yrs |
| 148 | Mali | 63.9 yrs |
| 149 | Solomon Islands | 63.9 yrs |
| 150 | Eritrea | 63.2 yrs |
| 151 | Guinea | 62.7 yrs |
| 152 | Madagascar | 62.7 yrs |
| 153 | Cameroon | 62.3 yrs |
| 154 | Malawi | 62.2 yrs |
| 155 | Burundi | 61.9 yrs |
| 156 | Zambia | 61.7 yrs |
| 157 | Liberia | 61.6 yrs |
| 158 | Congo - Kinshasa | 61.5 yrs |
| 159 | Equatorial Guinea | 61.5 yrs |
| 160 | Guinea-Bissau | 61.4 yrs |
| 161 | Haiti | 61.2 yrs |
| 162 | Eswatini | 61 yrs |
| 163 | Niger | 59.4 yrs |
| 164 | Sierra Leone | 59.1 yrs |
| 165 | Lesotho | 58.3 yrs |
| 166 | Chad | 58.1 yrs |
| 167 | South Sudan | 56.5 yrs |
| 168 | Central African Republic | 55.3 yrs |
10 countries or territories have no value that year.
Continent averages
| World (population-weighted average) | 74.2 yrs |
| Europe (average) | 78.9 yrs |
| Africa (average) | 65.9 yrs |
| Americas (average) | 77.5 yrs |
| Asia (average) | 75.2 yrs |
| Oceania (average) | 78.8 yrs |
Understanding this map
Definition
It is an average built from a single year's mortality at every age. It does not say how long children born that year will actually live, but it sums up health conditions at that moment.
A classic trap
A life expectancy of 30 in 1800 does not mean people died at 30. One child in three died before age 5, which drags the average down; a 20-year-old could hope to reach 55-60. The 20th-century rise comes first from falling child mortality.
Things to spot
The sudden dips: world wars, the 1918 flu, famines (China 1959-1961), the Rwandan genocide (1994), AIDS in southern Africa in the 1990s-2000s.
Sources : Gapminder (CC BY 4.0), d’après ONU, HMD, Maddison et autres
All maps
Electoral democracy indexWomen's right to voteLife expectancy at birthChildren dying before age 5Children per womanGDP per capitaEconomic freedom indexMedian income per person per monthIncome inequality (Gini index)Income share of the richest 10%Extreme poverty (under $2.15 a day)Tax revenuePublic debtPublic debt per personPublic spendingMilitary spendingPublic spending on educationPublic spending on healthPublic social spendingResearch and development spendingShare of public debt held abroadInterest paid on public debtShare of taxes eaten up by interest on debtPublic debt in years of taxesTotal government revenueTop marginal income tax rateBudget balance: deficit or surplusInterest-growth gap (r − g)10-year government borrowing rateHousehold electricity pricesGender gap in hourly wagesCO₂ emissions per person — on the territoryShare of electricity from low-carbon (renewables + nuclear) sourcesPopulation and densityShare of people aged 65 and overImmigrants as a share of the populationShare of people with no religionLargest religionCountries accessible without a visa
Page updated on 2026-11-03.