Life Expectancy by Country (2024) — All 217 Countries, Ranked

A child born today can expect to live 73.5 years on average worldwide (2024). But that average hides a 31.9-year gap: from 86.5 in Monaco down to 54.6 in Nigeria. Women outlive men by about 4.9 years almost everywhere.

World life expectancy

73.5

years · 2024

Longest-lived country

86.5

Monaco

Longest vs shortest

31.9

years apart, top to bottom

How long a life lasts, country by country

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Color = life expectancy (darker means a longer life). Hover any country for its exact figure.

source: World Bank WDIdata year: 2024geo: 217 countriesperiod life expectancy at birth

About this data

method: life expectancy at birth, both sexes, from World Bank (SP.DYN.LE00.IN)

page updated: 2026-07-20

This is PERIOD life expectancy at birth — the average number of years a newborn would live IF the death rates of today held for their whole life. It is a snapshot of a country's current mortality, not a forecast for any real person: someone born today will almost certainly see medicine, income and safety change over their lifetime, so their true lifespan is unknowable in advance.

Women live longer than men in nearly every country — about 4.9 years longer worldwide. Use the toggle to switch the map and ranking between everyone, women only and men only.

World life expectancy fell in 2020 and 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic — the first sustained global drop in decades — before recovering. That dip is visible in the trend chart below; the headline figures here are for the latest year, after the recovery.

Figures follow today's borders and are compiled by the World Bank mainly from the UN Population Division and national statistics offices. Small countries and conflict zones carry wider uncertainty.

License: CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).

Life expectancy by country

Pick any country to see its life expectancy, its world rank, how it compares to the global average, and the gap between women and men.

Country

Choose a country above to see how long a life lasts there, and how women and men compare.

e.g. Czechia — 80.0 years · #53 of 217

Top 10 longest-lived countries

The ten countries where people live longest. Switch between everyone, women and men — the order shifts a little.

Top 10 longest-lived countries

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Every country in the world, ranked

The full list, sortable by any column. Search to jump to a country. The life-expectancy column is colored by a continuous ramp: darker means a longer life.

Rank	Country	Life exp. ▼	Women	Men	Gap ♀−♂	Change, yr	Region
1	Monaco	86.5	88.6	84.6	+4.1	+0.1	Europe & Central Asia
2	San Marino	85.8	87.2	84.3	+2.9	+0.1	Europe & Central Asia
3	Hong Kong	85.4	88.2	82.7	+5.5	+0.1	East Asia & Pacific
4	Kuwait	84.6	85.4	83.8	+1.6	+1.4	Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
5	Switzerland	84.4	86.2	82.7	+3.5	+0.3	Europe & Central Asia
6	Liechtenstein	84.2	86.3	82.2	+4.1	-0.4	Europe & Central Asia
7	French Polynesia	84.2	86.6	81.9	+4.7	+0.1	East Asia & Pacific
8	Andorra	84.2	86.2	82.3	+4.0	+0.1	Europe & Central Asia
9	Sweden	84.1	85.6	82.6	+3.0	+0.8	Europe & Central Asia
10	Japan	84.0	87.1	81.1	+6.0	0.0	East Asia & Pacific
11	Italy	84.0	86.0	82.0	+4.0	+0.6	Europe & Central Asia
12	Spain	83.9	86.5	81.4	+5.1	0.0	Europe & Central Asia
13	Gibraltar	83.6	86.2	81.0	+5.2	+0.1	Europe & Central Asia
14	South Korea	83.6	86.6	80.8	+5.8	+0.2	East Asia & Pacific
15	Singapore	83.3	85.6	81.2	+4.4	+0.2	East Asia & Pacific
16	Macao	83.3	86.2	80.6	+5.6	+0.2	East Asia & Pacific
17	Israel	83.2	85.4	81.1	+4.3	0.0	Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
18	Luxembourg	83.2	85.5	81.0	+4.5	-0.1	Europe & Central Asia
19	Norway	83.2	84.8	81.6	+3.2	+0.1	Europe & Central Asia
20	Faroe Islands	83.1	84.9	81.3	+3.6	+0.1	Europe & Central Asia
21	United Arab Emirates	83.1	84.3	82.2	+2.2	+0.2	Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
22	Australia	83.1	85.1	81.1	+4.0	0.0	East Asia & Pacific
23	Ireland	83.0	84.7	81.4	+3.3	+0.2	Europe & Central Asia
24	France	83.0	85.9	80.2	+5.7	+0.1	Europe & Central Asia
25	Malta	83.0	84.8	81.2	+3.6	-0.4	Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
26	Iceland	82.8	84.5	81.2	+3.3	+0.4	Europe & Central Asia
27	Qatar	82.5	83.5	81.8	+1.7	+0.2	Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
28	Bermuda	82.5	85.9	79.1	+6.8	+0.2	North America
29	Portugal	82.4	85.2	79.7	+5.5	+0.1	Europe & Central Asia
30	Finland	82.3	85.0	79.8	+5.2	+0.8	Europe & Central Asia
31	Belgium	82.3	84.4	80.3	+4.1	-0.1	Europe & Central Asia
32	Slovenia	82.3	85.0	79.7	+5.3	+0.4	Europe & Central Asia
33	Denmark	82.3	84.2	80.4	+3.8	+0.5	Europe & Central Asia
34	Canada	82.1	84.3	80.0	+4.3	+0.5	North America
35	New Zealand	82.0	83.7	80.4	+3.3	+0.3	East Asia & Pacific
36	Austria	82.0	84.3	79.8	+4.5	+0.2	Europe & Central Asia
37	Netherlands	82.0	83.4	80.6	+2.8	+0.1	Europe & Central Asia
38	Puerto Rico (US)	81.9	85.4	78.3	+7.1	+0.2	Latin America & Caribbean
39	Greece	81.8	84.4	79.4	+5.0	+0.1	Europe & Central Asia
40	Cyprus	81.8	83.8	79.8	+4.0	+0.2	Europe & Central Asia
41	Bahrain	81.4	82.1	80.9	+1.3	+0.1	Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
42	United Kingdom	81.4	83.3	79.5	+3.8	+0.1	Europe & Central Asia
43	Chile	81.4	83.2	79.5	+3.8	+0.2	Latin America & Caribbean
44	Maldives	81.3	83.0	79.9	+3.1	+0.2	South Asia
45	Channel Islands	81.2	83.3	79.1	+4.2	+0.1	Europe & Central Asia
46	Isle of Man	81.1	83.2	79.0	+4.2	+0.1	Europe & Central Asia
47	Costa Rica	81.0	83.6	78.4	+5.2	+0.2	Latin America & Caribbean
48	Germany	80.8	83.2	78.5	+4.7	-0.2	Europe & Central Asia
49	U.S. Virgin Islands	80.8	84.1	77.6	+6.5	+0.3	Latin America & Caribbean
50	Cayman Islands	80.5	83.0	78.2	+4.8	+0.2	Latin America & Caribbean
51	St. Martin	80.4	84.0	77.0	+7.0	+0.2	Latin America & Caribbean
52	Oman	80.2	82.0	78.7	+3.3	+0.2	Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
53	Czechia	80.0	83.0	77.1	+5.9	+0.2	Europe & Central Asia
54	Albania	79.8	81.6	77.9	+3.7	+0.2	Europe & Central Asia
55	Panama	79.8	82.7	76.9	+5.8	+0.2	Latin America & Caribbean
56	Estonia	79.3	83.7	75.1	+8.6	+0.5	Europe & Central Asia
57	Saudi Arabia	79.0	81.3	77.3	+4.0	+0.3	Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
58	Northern Mariana Islands	78.9	80.9	77.3	+3.6	+0.1	East Asia & Pacific
59	Croatia	78.9	81.9	76.1	+5.8	+0.5	Europe & Central Asia
60	New Caledonia	78.9	81.4	76.5	+5.0	+0.2	East Asia & Pacific
61	United States	78.9	81.4	76.5	+4.9	+0.5	North America
62	Poland	78.4	82.2	74.8	+7.4	+0.2	Europe & Central Asia
63	Slovakia	78.4	81.7	75.2	+6.5	+0.3	Europe & Central Asia
64	Armenia	78.3	81.7	75.1	+6.6	+0.9	Europe & Central Asia
65	Uruguay	78.3	82.0	74.4	+7.7	+0.1	Latin America & Caribbean
66	Cuba	78.3	80.7	75.9	+4.8	+0.2	Latin America & Caribbean
67	Kosovo	78.2	80.3	76.0	+4.3	+0.2	Europe & Central Asia
68	Turks and Caicos Islands	78.2	80.4	76.0	+4.4	+0.2	Latin America & Caribbean
69	Bosnia and Herzegovina	78.0	81.1	74.6	+6.4	+0.2	Europe & Central Asia
70	China	78.0	81.0	75.2	+5.7	+0.1	East Asia & Pacific
71	Jordan	78.0	80.3	75.9	+4.4	+0.2	Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
72	Lebanon	77.9	79.9	75.9	+4.0	+0.1	Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
73	Peru	77.9	80.3	75.6	+4.7	+0.2	Latin America & Caribbean
74	Colombia	77.9	80.6	75.2	+5.5	+0.2	Latin America & Caribbean
75	Montenegro	77.9	80.4	75.5	+4.9	+0.3	Europe & Central Asia
76	Iran	77.9	79.8	76.0	+3.8	+0.2	Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
77	Antigua and Barbuda	77.8	80.4	74.7	+5.7	+0.2	Latin America & Caribbean
78	Sri Lanka	77.7	80.7	74.4	+6.3	+0.2	South Asia
79	Ecuador	77.6	80.3	74.9	+5.4	+0.2	Latin America & Caribbean
80	Argentina	77.5	80.0	75.0	+5.0	+0.1	Latin America & Caribbean
81	British Virgin Islands	77.4	80.2	74.7	+5.5	+0.2	Latin America & Caribbean
82	Guam	77.4	81.6	73.7	+7.9	+0.2	East Asia & Pacific
83	Türkiye	77.4	80.3	74.6	+5.7	+0.3	Europe & Central Asia
84	Lithuania	77.2	81.6	73.0	+8.6	-0.1	Europe & Central Asia
85	Curacao	77.0	81.0	72.7	+8.3	+0.2	Latin America & Caribbean
86	Malaysia	76.8	79.5	74.4	+5.1	+0.2	East Asia & Pacific
87	Hungary	76.7	79.9	73.7	+6.2	+0.2	Europe & Central Asia
88	Tunisia	76.7	79.3	74.1	+5.2	+0.2	Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
89	North Macedonia	76.6	78.9	74.5	+4.4	+1.3	Europe & Central Asia
90	Thailand	76.6	81.0	72.3	+8.6	+0.2	East Asia & Pacific
91	Sint Maarten	76.5	79.7	73.8	+5.8	+0.2	Latin America & Caribbean
92	Aruba	76.5	78.9	73.8	+5.1	+0.1	Latin America & Caribbean
93	Algeria	76.5	77.9	75.1	+2.8	+0.2	Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
94	Romania	76.5	80.3	72.8	+7.5	+0.1	Europe & Central Asia
95	Latvia	76.4	81.5	71.6	+9.9	+1.0	Europe & Central Asia
96	Barbados	76.3	78.8	73.8	+5.0	+0.2	Latin America & Caribbean
97	Seychelles	76.3	80.7	72.1	+8.6	+0.9	Sub-Saharan Africa
98	Cabo Verde	76.2	79.4	73.0	+6.3	+0.2	Sub-Saharan Africa
99	Brazil	76.0	79.1	73.0	+6.2	+0.2	Latin America & Caribbean
100	Serbia	76.0	78.3	73.7	+4.6	-0.2	Europe & Central Asia
101	Bulgaria	75.8	79.5	72.2	+7.3	0.0	Europe & Central Asia
102	Brunei	75.5	77.7	73.5	+4.2	+0.2	East Asia & Pacific
103	Morocco	75.5	77.8	73.3	+4.4	+0.2	Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
104	Grenada	75.4	78.5	72.5	+6.0	+0.2	Latin America & Caribbean
105	Mexico	75.3	78.0	72.4	+5.6	+0.2	Latin America & Caribbean
106	Nicaragua	75.1	77.6	72.5	+5.1	+0.2	Latin America & Caribbean
107	Bangladesh	74.9	76.7	73.3	+3.4	+0.3	South Asia
108	Vietnam	74.7	79.4	70.1	+9.3	+0.1	East Asia & Pacific
109	Bahamas	74.7	78.3	71.1	+7.3	+0.2	Latin America & Caribbean
110	Ukraine	74.7	79.4	69.8	+9.6	+1.3	Europe & Central Asia
111	Georgia	74.7	79.2	69.7	+9.5	+0.2	Europe & Central Asia
112	Azerbaijan	74.6	77.3	71.7	+5.6	+0.1	Europe & Central Asia
113	Kazakhstan	74.5	78.5	70.3	+8.2	+0.1	Europe & Central Asia
114	Belarus	74.4	79.2	69.7	+9.5	+0.2	Europe & Central Asia
115	Paraguay	74.0	77.1	71.0	+6.1	+0.1	Latin America & Caribbean
116	Dominican Republic	73.9	77.1	70.7	+6.4	+0.1	Latin America & Caribbean
117	Mauritius	73.8	77.4	70.3	+7.1	+0.4	Sub-Saharan Africa
118	Suriname	73.8	77.0	70.6	+6.4	+0.1	Latin America & Caribbean
119	North Korea	73.7	75.9	71.6	+4.3	+0.1	East Asia & Pacific
120	Belize	73.7	76.7	71.1	+5.6	+0.2	Latin America & Caribbean
121	Trinidad and Tobago	73.6	76.8	70.5	+6.3	+0.1	Latin America & Caribbean
122	Russia	73.4	78.9	68.3	+10.6	+0.2	Europe & Central Asia
123	Bhutan	73.3	75.3	71.6	+3.7	+0.3	South Asia
124	Tonga	73.1	76.5	69.5	+7.0	+0.2	East Asia & Pacific
125	Honduras	73.0	75.7	70.5	+5.2	+0.2	Latin America & Caribbean
126	American Samoa	73.0	76.0	70.3	+5.7	+0.1	East Asia & Pacific
127	St. Lucia	72.8	76.5	69.5	+7.0	+0.1	Latin America & Caribbean
128	Guatemala	72.7	75.0	70.4	+4.6	+0.1	Latin America & Caribbean
129	Venezuela	72.7	76.7	68.9	+7.8	+0.2	Latin America & Caribbean
130	Syria	72.6	74.9	70.2	+4.7	+0.4	Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
131	Uzbekistan	72.5	75.5	69.6	+6.0	+0.1	Europe & Central Asia
132	Iraq	72.4	74.2	70.5	+3.7	+0.1	Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
133	Kyrgyzstan	72.4	76.6	68.4	+8.2	+0.2	Europe & Central Asia
134	Mongolia	72.4	77.1	67.9	+9.2	+0.3	East Asia & Pacific
135	El Salvador	72.3	76.5	67.8	+8.7	+0.2	Latin America & Caribbean
136	St. Kitts and Nevis	72.3	76.2	68.7	+7.5	+0.1	Latin America & Caribbean
137	India	72.2	73.9	70.7	+3.1	+0.2	South Asia
138	Tajikistan	71.9	74.1	69.7	+4.5	+0.1	Europe & Central Asia
139	Samoa	71.8	73.8	70.0	+3.9	+0.1	East Asia & Pacific
140	Egypt	71.8	74.0	69.7	+4.4	+0.2	Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
141	Vanuatu	71.7	74.1	69.6	+4.5	+0.2	East Asia & Pacific
142	Jamaica	71.6	74.1	69.1	+5.1	+0.1	Latin America & Caribbean
143	St. Vincent and the Grenadines	71.4	74.5	68.8	+5.7	+0.2	Latin America & Caribbean
144	Moldova	71.3	75.7	66.7	+9.0	+0.1	Europe & Central Asia
145	Dominica	71.3	74.7	68.4	+6.4	+0.2	Latin America & Caribbean
146	Indonesia	71.3	73.4	69.2	+4.3	+0.1	East Asia & Pacific
147	Libya	71.1	72.7	69.6	+3.1	+1.8	Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
148	Cambodia	70.8	73.4	68.1	+5.2	+0.1	East Asia & Pacific
149	Solomon Islands	70.7	72.2	69.4	+2.8	+0.2	East Asia & Pacific
150	Nepal	70.6	72.1	69.1	+3.0	+0.3	South Asia
151	Guyana	70.3	74.1	66.6	+7.5	+0.1	Latin America & Caribbean
152	Greenland	70.3	72.2	68.4	+3.8	-0.7	Europe & Central Asia
153	Turkmenistan	70.2	73.0	67.0	+6.0	+0.1	Europe & Central Asia
154	Philippines	69.9	73.0	67.0	+6.0	+0.1	East Asia & Pacific
155	Sao Tome and Principe	69.9	73.9	66.4	+7.5	+0.2	Sub-Saharan Africa
156	Yemen	69.4	71.5	67.4	+4.2	+0.1	Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
157	Palau	69.4	71.9	67.3	+4.7	+0.1	East Asia & Pacific
158	Botswana	69.3	71.9	66.8	+5.1	+0.1	Sub-Saharan Africa
159	Laos	69.2	71.5	67.0	+4.5	+0.3	East Asia & Pacific
160	West Bank and Gaza	69.2	74.3	65.2	+9.0	+4.0	Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
161	Senegal	68.9	71.0	67.0	+4.0	+0.2	Sub-Saharan Africa
162	Eritrea	68.9	70.9	66.8	+4.2	+0.3	Sub-Saharan Africa
163	Bolivia	68.7	71.3	66.3	+5.1	+0.2	Latin America & Caribbean
164	Mauritania	68.7	70.7	66.7	+4.0	+0.2	Sub-Saharan Africa
165	Gabon	68.5	71.2	66.1	+5.2	+0.2	Sub-Saharan Africa
166	Uganda	68.5	71.4	65.5	+5.9	+0.2	Sub-Saharan Africa
167	Rwanda	68.0	70.1	65.7	+4.4	+0.2	Sub-Saharan Africa
168	Timor-Leste	67.9	69.7	66.3	+3.4	+0.2	East Asia & Pacific
169	Pakistan	67.8	70.3	65.5	+4.9	+0.2	Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
170	Ethiopia	67.6	71.0	64.4	+6.7	+0.3	Sub-Saharan Africa
171	Malawi	67.6	70.8	64.3	+6.5	+0.2	Sub-Saharan Africa
172	Namibia	67.5	71.5	63.5	+8.0	+0.1	Sub-Saharan Africa
173	Fiji	67.5	69.5	65.5	+4.1	+0.1	East Asia & Pacific
174	Micronesia	67.4	71.3	63.6	+7.6	+0.2	East Asia & Pacific
175	Tuvalu	67.3	70.9	63.9	+6.9	+0.2	East Asia & Pacific
176	Tanzania	67.2	70.0	64.4	+5.6	+0.2	Sub-Saharan Africa
177	Myanmar	67.1	70.4	64.0	+6.4	+0.2	East Asia & Pacific
178	Marshall Islands	67.1	69.5	65.0	+4.5	+0.1	East Asia & Pacific
179	Comoros	67.0	69.2	65.0	+4.2	+0.2	Sub-Saharan Africa
180	Kiribati	66.6	68.3	64.7	+3.6	+0.1	East Asia & Pacific
181	Zambia	66.5	68.9	64.1	+4.8	+0.2	Sub-Saharan Africa
182	Sudan	66.5	69.8	63.4	+6.4	+0.2	Sub-Saharan Africa
183	South Africa	66.3	69.8	62.8	+7.0	+0.2	Sub-Saharan Africa
184	Afghanistan	66.3	67.8	64.7	+3.1	+0.3	Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
185	Papua New Guinea	66.3	69.2	63.8	+5.4	+0.1	East Asia & Pacific
186	Djibouti	66.2	68.7	63.7	+5.0	+0.2	Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
187	Gambia	66.1	67.8	64.3	+3.4	+0.2	Sub-Saharan Africa
188	Congo	66.0	67.7	64.3	+3.4	+0.2	Sub-Saharan Africa
189	Ghana	65.7	68.2	63.3	+4.8	+0.2	Sub-Saharan Africa
190	Haiti	65.1	68.5	61.9	+6.6	+0.2	Latin America & Caribbean
191	Angola	64.8	67.3	62.3	+5.1	+0.2	Sub-Saharan Africa
192	Eswatini	64.3	67.1	61.3	+5.8	+0.1	Sub-Saharan Africa
193	Guinea-Bissau	64.3	66.5	61.8	+4.7	+0.2	Sub-Saharan Africa
194	Cameroon	64.0	66.2	61.8	+4.4	+0.3	Sub-Saharan Africa
195	Equatorial Guinea	63.9	65.9	62.2	+3.7	+0.2	Sub-Saharan Africa
196	Madagascar	63.8	65.6	62.1	+3.5	+0.2	Sub-Saharan Africa
197	Kenya	63.8	66.1	61.6	+4.5	+0.2	Sub-Saharan Africa
198	Burundi	63.8	65.9	61.8	+4.1	+0.2	Sub-Saharan Africa
199	Mozambique	63.8	66.7	60.5	+6.3	+0.2	Sub-Saharan Africa
200	Zimbabwe	63.1	65.3	60.5	+4.8	+0.3	Sub-Saharan Africa
201	Togo	62.9	63.2	62.7	+0.5	+0.2	Sub-Saharan Africa
202	Liberia	62.3	63.6	61.0	+2.6	+0.2	Sub-Saharan Africa
203	Naoero	62.3	64.2	60.4	+3.8	+0.2	East Asia & Pacific
204	Cote d'Ivoire	62.1	64.3	60.2	+4.1	+0.2	Sub-Saharan Africa
205	DR Congo	62.1	64.2	60.0	+4.3	+0.2	Sub-Saharan Africa
206	Sierra Leone	62.0	63.7	60.2	+3.5	+0.2	Sub-Saharan Africa
207	Niger	61.4	62.4	60.5	+1.9	+0.3	Sub-Saharan Africa
208	Burkina Faso	61.3	63.4	59.1	+4.3	+0.2	Sub-Saharan Africa
209	Benin	61.0	62.4	59.5	+2.9	+0.2	Sub-Saharan Africa
210	Guinea	60.9	62.1	59.7	+2.4	+0.2	Sub-Saharan Africa
211	Mali	60.7	62.1	59.3	+2.9	+0.2	Sub-Saharan Africa
212	Somalia	59.0	61.6	56.5	+5.1	+0.2	Sub-Saharan Africa
213	Lesotho	57.8	60.4	55.0	+5.4	+0.4	Sub-Saharan Africa
214	South Sudan	57.7	60.7	54.8	+6.0	+0.1	Sub-Saharan Africa
215	Central African Republic	57.7	59.6	55.5	+4.1	+0.3	Sub-Saharan Africa
216	Chad	55.2	57.2	53.4	+3.8	+0.2	Sub-Saharan Africa
217	Nigeria	54.6	54.9	54.3	+0.6	+0.2	Sub-Saharan Africa

The complete list: 217 countries with 2024 World Bank life expectancy. "Women" and "men" are the World Bank's own sex-specific series; "Gap" is women minus men; "Change" is vs 2023, in years.

Five numbers worth remembering

The same dataset, boiled down to the facts people actually repeat.

A child in Monaco can expect 31.9 more years of life than one in Nigeria

86.5 vs 54.6 years, at birth · 2024

Worldwide, women outlive men by about 4.9 years, a gap that holds in almost every country

Women 76.0 vs men 71.1 years, 2024

Global life expectancy has climbed from 50.9 years in 1960 to 73.5 today

+22.6 years in 64 years, one of humanity's clearest gains

53 of 217 countries now pass 80 years; 6 are still under 60

Life expectancy at birth, both sexes

The world average dipped during the pandemic and has since recovered to 73.5 years

World life expectancy, 2024, after the 2020-21 COVID drop

What this number really means

World life expectancy, 1960 → 2024 (years, at birth)

World life expectancy rose from 50.9 years in 1960 to 73.5 today — a gain of 22.6 years. The line is not perfectly smooth: it fell in 2020-2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic, the first sustained global drop in decades, before recovering.

Life expectancy at birth is a "period" measure: it takes the death rates a country records this year, at every age, and works out how long a newborn would live if those exact rates never changed. It is the single clearest summary of a population's health — but it is a snapshot of the present, not a prediction of any individual's future.

That distinction matters. A child born in Monaco today is not guaranteed 86.5 years, and a child in Nigeria is not condemned to 54.6: both figures assume today's mortality holds for a lifetime, and mortality almost always improves. What the number does capture, sharply, is how unequal survival is right now — a 31.9-year gap between the top and bottom of this list, driven mostly by child mortality, infectious disease, conflict and access to healthcare.

It also says nothing about the quality of those years, or how they are distributed within a country — averages hide wide gaps between rich and poor even inside the longest-lived nations. Read life expectancy as a powerful measure of a population's health and its inequalities, not as a lifespan anyone is promised.

Known limitations: life expectancy is modeled from mortality data, so countries with weak vital-registration systems, small populations or ongoing conflict carry wider uncertainty; the World Bank publishes the latest year with a short lag; and a single national average masks large gaps between regions, income groups and communities. Treat every figure as a well-sourced estimate, not an exact count.

Frequently asked questions

Which country has the highest life expectancy?

Monaco has the highest life expectancy at birth, about 86.5 years (2024, both sexes), according to World Bank data. San Marino is close behind at about 85.8 years.

What is the average life expectancy in the world?

Global life expectancy at birth was about 73.5 years in 2024 — roughly 76.0 years for women and 71.1 for men — per the World Bank's World Development Indicators.

Which country has the lowest life expectancy?

Nigeria has the lowest life expectancy on this list, about 54.6 years (2024). The shortest-lived countries are concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa, where child mortality, infectious disease and conflict weigh heaviest.

Why do women live longer than men?

In almost every country women outlive men, by about 4.9 years worldwide. The gap comes from a mix of biology and behavior: men are more exposed to smoking, alcohol, violence and workplace and road deaths, and tend to develop heart disease earlier. The size of the gap varies a lot from country to country.

Does life expectancy mean I will live that long?

No. Life expectancy at birth is a "period" figure — it assumes today's death rates stay fixed for your whole life, which they won't. It measures the current health of a whole population, not any one person's future. Someone born today will live through decades of change in medicine, income and safety, so their real lifespan can't be read off this number.

Did COVID-19 lower life expectancy?

Yes. World life expectancy fell in 2020 and 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic — the first sustained global drop in decades — and fell much more sharply in some countries. It has since recovered in most places, which is why the latest figures are back above pre-pandemic levels.

How many countries are in this ranking?

This page ranks 217 countries and territories for which the World Bank reports a 2024 life-expectancy figure — nearly every economy in the world, using one consistent source so the ranking is comparable.