Key statistics
At a glance
- World average
- 73.2years
- Highest
- 84.7years
- Lowest
- ~53years
- Since 1960
- +22.5years
2022, World Bank
Japan
Chad, Lesotho, Nigeria
global gain
Overview
Summary
Improvements in child survival, vaccination, sanitation and chronic-disease care have pushed life expectancy up steadily for six decades. The 2020–2021 COVID-19 pandemic caused the first major reversal since World War II — about 1.8 years lost globally — but most of that decline has since been recovered.
High-income countries cluster around 80–85 years; the United States is a notable outlier, with life expectancy lower than most peer nations despite spending far more per capita on healthcare.
What the data shows
Key findings
- Japan, Switzerland and Australia have the highest life expectancy among large economies.
- US life expectancy is roughly 5 years below the OECD high-income average and has fallen since 2014.
- The gender gap is universal: women outlive men by 5–7 years in most high-income countries.
- Sub-Saharan Africa has gained ~10 years of life expectancy since 2000, the fastest improvement of any region.
Long-run data
Historical trend, 1990 – today
Life expectancy at birth (World) — World aggregate, World Bank Open Data.
How nations rank
Country comparison
Latest available year. Source: World Bank.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
What is the current global life expectancy?+
About 73.2 years at birth as of 2022 (World Bank).
Which country has the highest life expectancy?+
Japan, at 84.7 years, among countries with reliable data and a population of over 5 million.
Why is US life expectancy declining?+
Drivers include the opioid crisis, firearm deaths, obesity-related disease and COVID-19, alongside structural healthcare-access gaps.
How has COVID-19 affected life expectancy?+
The pandemic caused the largest single-year drop in global life expectancy since World War II — about 1.8 years — though most of that has now been recovered.
Cite this page
Sources & further reading
- ↗World Bank — Life expectancy at birth (SP.DYN.LE00.IN)
- ↗WHO — Global Health Observatory
- ↗OECD Health Statistics
Suggested citation: Global Data Insights, “World Life Expectancy”, 2026. Retrieved from /world-life-expectancy.
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