Life Expectancy by Country
Where the Reaper takes his time
How long you can expect to live depends enormously on where you're born. The gap between the longest-lived and shortest-lived countries is more than thirty years — a chasm carved by healthcare, income, sanitation, conflict, and disease. The chart below compares life expectancy at birth for a spread of countries, with the world average marked for context.
Life expectancy at birth, selected countries
Years. Hover or tap a bar for the exact figure. World average highlighted for context.
Source: UN World Population Prospects 2024 (period life expectancy at birth). Figures are approximate and vary slightly by source and year.
Why the spread is so wide
The countries at the top — places like Monaco, Hong Kong, Japan, and Switzerland — share a recognisable recipe: universal healthcare, high incomes, very low infant mortality, clean water, and strong public-health systems. At the other end, the lowest figures cluster in regions facing poverty, conflict, weak health infrastructure, and a heavy burden of infectious disease.
It's worth remembering what this number actually is. Life expectancy at birth is a period measure: it asks, "if a newborn faced today's death rates at every age for life, how long would they live on average?" It's a snapshot of present conditions, not a personal forecast — and it's heavily shaped by deaths early in life. As countries reduce infant and child mortality, their average leaps upward, even if the experience of older adults changes far less. For more on that distinction, see why life expectancy is an average, not a prediction.
The good news the chart hides
Stand back far enough and the trend is genuinely hopeful. The global average has roughly doubled since 1950, climbing from the mid-40s to the low-70s, driven by vaccines, antibiotics, sanitation, and the steep fall in childhood deaths. The Reaper, in other words, has been kept waiting longer almost everywhere on Earth.
You might also like our breakdown of the 5 leading causes of death worldwide. Curious where your own (entirely unscientific) number lands? Our death date calculator is happy to make something up for you, with appropriate ceremony.