Over the past 160 years, life expectancy (from birth) in the United States has risen from 39.4 years in 1860, to 78.9 years in 2020. One of the major reasons for the overall increase of life expectancy in the last two centuries is the fact that the infant and child mortality rates have decreased by so much during this time. Medical advancements, fewer wars and improved living standards also mean that people are living longer than they did in previous centuries.

Despite this overall increase, the life expectancy dropped three times since 1860; from 1865 to 1870 during the American Civil War, from 1915 to 1920 during the First World War and following Spanish Flu epidemic, and it has dropped again between 2015 and now. The reason for the most recent drop in life expectancy is not a result of any specific event, but has been attributed to negative societal trends, such as unbalanced diets and sedentary lifestyles, high medical costs, and increasing rates of suicide and drug use.

This statistic shows the average life expectancy in North America for those born in 2022, by gender and region. In Canada, the average life expectancy was 80 years for males and 84 years for females.

Life expectancy in North America

Of those considered in this statistic, the life expectancy of female Canadian infants born in 2021 was the longest, at 84 years. Female infants born in America that year had a similarly high life expectancy of 81 years. Male infants, meanwhile, had lower life expectancies of 80 years (Canada) and 76 years (USA).

Compare this to the worldwide life expectancy for babies born in 2021: 75 years for women and 71 years for men. Of continents worldwide, North America ranks equal first in terms of life expectancy of (77 years for men and 81 years for women). Life expectancy is lowest in Africa at just 63 years and 66 years for males and females respectively. Japan is the country with the highest life expectancy worldwide for babies born in 2020.

Life expectancy is calculated according to current mortality rates of the population in question. Global variations in life expectancy are caused by differences in medical care, public health and diet, and reflect global inequalities in economic circumstances. Africa’s low life expectancy, for example, can be attributed in part to the AIDS epidemic. In 2019, around 72,000 people died of AIDS in South Africa, the largest amount worldwide. Nigeria, Tanzania and India were also high on the list of countries ranked by AIDS deaths that year. Likewise, Africa has by far the highest rate of mortality by communicable disease (i.e. AIDS, neglected tropics diseases, malaria and tuberculosis).

World life expectancy for 2025 is 73.49, a 0.23% increase from 2024.

<ul style='margin-top:20px;'>

<li>World life expectancy for 2024 was <strong>73.33</strong>, a <strong>0% increase</strong> from 2023.</li>
<li>World life expectancy for 2023 was <strong>73.33</strong>, a <strong>0.49% increase</strong> from 2022.</li>
<li>World life expectancy for 2022 was <strong>72.97</strong>, a <strong>2.46% increase</strong> from 2021.</li>
</ul>Life expectancy at birth indicates the number of years a newborn infant would live if prevailing patterns of mortality at the time of its birth were to stay the same throughout its life.

U.S. State Life Expectancy by Sex, 2020

  Description

The dataset presents life expectancy at birth estimates based on annual complete period life tables for each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia (D.C.) in 2020 for the total, male and female populations.

  Dataset Details

Publisher: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Temporal Coverage: 2020-01-01/2020-12-31 Geographic Coverage: United States Last Modified: 2025-04-21 Contact: National Center… See the full description on the dataset page: https://huggingface.co/datasets/HHS-Official/us-state-life-expectancy-by-sex-2020.

U.S. life expectancy for 2025 is 79.40, a 0.18% increase from 2024.

<ul style='margin-top:20px;'>

<li>U.S. life expectancy for 2024 was <strong>79.25</strong>, a <strong>1.11% increase</strong> from 2023.</li>
<li>U.S. life expectancy for 2023 was <strong>78.39</strong>, a <strong>1.23% increase</strong> from 2022.</li>
<li>U.S. life expectancy for 2022 was <strong>77.43</strong>, a <strong>1.45% increase</strong> from 2021.</li>
</ul>Life expectancy at birth indicates the number of years a newborn infant would live if prevailing patterns of mortality at the time of its birth were to stay the same throughout its life.

A global phenomenon, known as the demographic transition, has seen life expectancy from birth increase rapidly over the past two centuries. In pre-industrial societies, the average life expectancy was around 24 years, and it is believed that this was the case throughout most of history, and in all regions. The demographic transition then began in the industrial societies of Europe, North America, and the West Pacific around the turn of the 19th century, and life expectancy rose accordingly. Latin America was the next region to follow, before Africa and most Asian populations saw their life expectancy rise throughout the 20th century.

Life expectancy at birth for males and females for Middle Layer Super Output Areas (MSOAs), Leicester: 2016 to 2020The average number of years a person would expect to live based on contemporary mortality rates.For a particular area and time period, it is an estimate of the average number of years a newborn baby would survive if he or she experienced the age-specific mortality rates for that area and time period throughout his or her life.Life expectancy figures have been calculated based on death registrations between 2016 to 2020, which includes the first wave and part of the second wave of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Throughout most of history, average life expectancy from birth was fairly consistent across the globe, at around 24 years. A major contributor to this was high rates of infant and child mortality; those who survived into adulthood could expect to live to their 50s or 60s, yet pandemics, food instability, and conflict did cause regular spikes in mortality across the entire population. Gradually, from the 16th to 19th centuries, there was some growth in more developed societies, due to improvements in agriculture, infrastructure, and medical knowledge. However, the most significant change came with the introduction of vaccination and other medical advances in the 1800s, which saw a sharp decline in child mortality and the onset of the demographic transition. This phenomenon began in more developed countries in the 1800s, before spreading to Latin America, Asia, and (later) Africa in the 1900s. As the majority of the world's population lives in countries considered to be "less developed", this figure is much closer to the global average. However, today, there is a considerable difference in life expectancies across these countries, ranging from 84.7 years in Japan to 53 years in the Central African Republic.

Period life expectancy by age and sex. Each life table is based on population estimates, births and deaths for a single year.

This table contains mortality indicators by sex for Canada and all provinces except Prince Edward Island. These indicators are derived from three-year complete life tables. Mortality indicators derived from single-year life tables are also available (table 13-10-0837). For Prince Edward Island, Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, mortality indicators derived from three-year abridged life tables are available (table 13-10-0140).

The dataset presents life expectancy at birth estimates based on annual complete period life tables for each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia (D.C.) in 2020 for the total, male and female populations.

In 1870, Brazil's life expectancy from birth was just 32 years; there was a slight increase over the next 65 years, with the only decrease coming in the 1910s during the Spanish Flu epidemic. The largest increases in life expectancy came in the 1940s, when it jumped by almost twelve years in this decade alone. Brazil's life expectancy from birth has increased steadily over the past fifty years, and life expectancy in 2020 is almost 76; more than double what it was in 1940.

🇸🇪 스웨덴

China Life Expectancy data was reported at 78.200 Year Old in 2021. This records an increase from the previous number of 77.930 Year Old for 2020. China Life Expectancy data is updated yearly, averaging 76.340 Year Old from Dec 1981 (Median) to 2021, with 13 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 78.200 Year Old in 2021 and a record low of 67.770 Year Old in 1981. China Life Expectancy data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by National Bureau of Statistics. The data is categorized under China Premium Database’s Socio-Demographic – Table CN.GA: Population: Life Expectancy: By Region. According to the National Health Commission, from 2016 to 2017, the average life expectancy of residents per capita has increased from 76.5 to 76.7 years. For reference only. 根据国家卫生健康委员会，从2016年到2017年，居民人均预期寿命由76.5岁提高到76.7岁。以供參考。

Graph and download economic data for Life Expectancy at Birth, Total for the United States (SPDYNLE00INUSA) from 1960 to 2023 about life expectancy, life, birth, and USA.

🇬🇧 영국 English Life expectancy at birth for males and females for Middle Layer Super Output Area (MSOAs), Leicester: 2016 to 2020The average number of years a person would expect to live based on contemporary mortality rates.For a particular area and time period, it is an estimate of the average number of years a newborn baby would survive if he or she experienced the age-specific mortality rates for that area and time period throughout his or her life.Life expectancy figures have been calculated based on death registrations between 2016 to 2020, which includes the first wave and part of the second wave of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Life table data for "Bounce backs amid continued losses: Life expectancy changes since COVID-19"

cc-by Jonas Schöley, José Manuel Aburto, Ilya Kashnitsky, Maxi S. Kniffka, Luyin Zhang, Hannaliis Jaadla, Jennifer B. Dowd, and Ridhi Kashyap. "Bounce backs amid continued losses: Life expectancy changes since COVID-19".

These are CSV files of life tables over the years 2015 through 2021 across 29 countries analyzed in the paper "Bounce backs amid continued losses: Life expectancy changes since COVID-19".

40-lifetables.csv

Life table statistics 2015 through 2021 by sex, region and quarter with uncertainty quantiles based on Poisson replication of death counts. Actual life tables and expected life tables (under the assumption of pre-COVID mortality trend continuation) are provided.

30-lt_input.csv

Life table input data.

• `id`: unique row identifier
• `region_iso`: iso3166-2 region codes
• `sex`: Male, Female, Total
• `year`: iso year
• `age_start`: start of age group
• `age_width`: width of age group, Inf for age_start 100, otherwise 1
• `nweeks_year`: number of weeks in that year, 52 or 53
• `death_total`: number of deaths by any cause
• `population_py`: person-years of exposure (adjusted for leap-weeks and missing weeks in input data on all cause deaths)
• `death_total_nweeksmiss`: number of weeks in the raw input data with at least one missing death count for this region-sex-year stratum. missings are counted when the week is implicitly missing from the input data or if any NAs are encounted in this week or if age groups are implicitly missing for this week in the input data (e.g. 40-45, 50-55)
• `death_total_minnageraw`: the minimum number of age-groups in the raw input data within this region-sex-year stratum
• `death_total_maxnageraw`: the maximum number of age-groups in the raw input data within this region-sex-year stratum
• `death_total_minopenageraw`: the minimum age at the start of the open age group in the raw input data within this region-sex-year stratum
• `death_total_maxopenageraw`: the maximum age at the start of the open age group in the raw input data within this region-sex-year stratum
• `death_total_source`: source of the all-cause death data

• `death_total_prop_q1`: observed proportion of deaths in first quarter of year

• `death_total_prop_q2`: observed proportion of deaths in second quarter of year

• `death_total_prop_q3`: observed proportion of deaths in third quarter of year

• `death_total_prop_q4`: observed proportion of deaths in fourth quarter of year

• `death_expected_prop_q1`: expected proportion of deaths in first quarter of year

• `death_expected_prop_q2`: expected proportion of deaths in second quarter of year

• `death_expected_prop_q3`: expected proportion of deaths in third quarter of year

• `death_expected_prop_q4`: expected proportion of deaths in fourth quarter of year

• `population_midyear`: midyear population (July 1st)
• `population_source`: source of the population count/exposure data
• `death_covid`: number of deaths due to covid
• `death_covid_date`: number of deaths due to covid as of
• `death_covid_nageraw`: the number of age groups in the covid input data
• `ex_wpp_estimate`: life expectancy estimates from the World Population prospects for a five year period, merged at the midpoint year
• `ex_hmd_estimate`: life expectancy estimates from the Human Mortality Database
• `nmx_hmd_estimate`: death rate estimates from the Human Mortality Database
• `nmx_cntfc`: Lee-Carter death rate projections based on trend in the years 2015 through 2019

Deaths

• source:
  • STMF input data series (https://www.mortality.org/Public/STMF/Outputs/stmf.csv)
  • ONS for GB-EAW pre 2020
  • CDC for US pre 2020
• STMF:
  • harmonized to single ages via pclm
  • pclm iterates over country, sex, year, and within-year age grouping pattern and converts irregular age groupings, which may vary by country, year and week into a regular age grouping of 0:110
  • smoothing parameters estimated via BIC grid search seperately for every pclm iteration
  • last age group set to [110,111)
  • ages 100:110+ are then summed into 100+ to be consistent with mid-year population information
  • deaths in unknown weeks are considered; deaths in unknown ages are not considered
• ONS:
  • data already in single ages
  • ages 100:105+ are summed into 100+ to be consistent with mid-year population information
  • PCLM smoothing applied to for consistency reasons
• CDC:
  • The CDC data comes in single ages 0:100 for the US. For 2020 we only have the STMF data in a much coarser age grouping, i.e. (0, 1, 5, 15, 25, 35, 45, 55, 65, 75, 85+). In order to calculate life-tables in a manner consistent with 2020, we summarise the pre 2020 US death counts into the 2020 age grouping and then apply the pclm ungrouping into single year ages, mirroring the approach to the 2020 data

Population

• source:
  • for years 2000 to 2019: World Population Prospects 2019 single year-age population estimates 1950-2019
  • for year 2020: World Population Prospects 2019 single year-age population projections 2020-2100
• mid-year population
  • mid-year population translated into exposures:
    • if a region reports annual deaths using the Gregorian calendar definition of a year (365 or 366 days long) set exposures equal to mid year population estimates
    • if a region reports annual deaths using the iso-week-year definition of a year (364 or 371 days long), and if there is a leap-week in that year, set exposures equal to 371/364\*mid_year_population to account for the longer reporting period. in years without leap-weeks set exposures equal to mid year population estimates. further multiply by fraction of observed weeks on all weeks in a year.

COVID deaths

• source: COVerAGE-DB (https://osf.io/mpwjq/)
• the data base reports cumulative numbers of COVID deaths over days of a year, we extract the most up to date yearly total

External life expectancy estimates

• source:
  • World Population Prospects (https://population.un.org/wpp/Download/Files/1_Indicators%20(Standard)/CSV_FILES/WPP2019_Life_Table_Medium.csv), estimates for the five year period 2015-2019
  • Human Mortality Database (https://mortality.org/), single year and age tables

Life Expectancy: Beijing data was reported at 82.490 Year Old in 12-01-2020. This records an increase from the previous number of 80.180 Year Old for 12-01-2010. Life Expectancy: Beijing data is updated decadal, averaging 78.140 Year Old from Dec 1990 (Median) to 12-01-2020, with 4 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 82.490 Year Old in 12-01-2020 and a record low of 72.860 Year Old in 12-01-1990. Life Expectancy: Beijing data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by National Bureau of Statistics. The data is categorized under China Premium Database’s Socio-Demographic – Table CN.GA: Population: Life Expectancy: By Region.

In 1875, the average person born in Chile could expect to live to the age of 32 years, a figure that would remain largely stagnante throughout the late 19th and early 20th century, as the country’s Parliamentary era would see relatively little change in the day to day lives of the country’s citizens. Outside of two dips in 1910 and 1920, the latter primarily driven by the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic. Life expectancy would see two sharp increases following the end of the First World War; the first in the 1920s, and the most dramatic in the early 1950s.

The first of these spikes, under President Ibáñez del Campo, can be attributed primarily to large increases in spending on public healthcare and improvements in public sanitation by the Campo administration. The second and larger spike, under President González Videla, can be attributed to a combination of mass immunization and vaccination, and the implementation of a national health care system, drastically cutting child mortality in the country. As a result of these reforms, life expectancy in Chile would more than double in just thirty years, rising from just over 33 years in 1925 to 69 years by 1955. Following the end of the Videla administration in 1952, life expectancy would continue to rise in Chile, as increasing urbanization, and the successful eradication of many childhood diseases would see both child and overall mortality decline. This rise has continued even into the 21st century, and as a result, life expectancy in Chile rose to over 78 years by the end of the century, and in 2020, it is estimated that the average person born in Chile will live to over 82 years old, the highest in South America.