In 2022, the life expectancy of men at birth in the United States increased by 1.3 years (+1.77 percent) compared to 2021. In total, the life expectancy amounted to 74.8 years in 2022. This increase was preceded by a declining life expectancy.Life expectancy at birth refers to the number of years the average newborn is expected to live, providing that mortality patterns at the time of birth do not change thereafter.Find more statistics on other topics about the United States with key insights such as total fertility rate, infant mortality rate, and total life expectancy at birth.

The life expectancy for men aged 65 years in the U.S. has gradually increased since the 1960s. Now men in the United States aged 65 can expect to live 17 more years on average. Women aged 65 years can expect to live around 19.7 more years on average.

Life expectancy in the U.S.

As of 2021, the average life expectancy at birth in the United States was 76.33 years. Life expectancy in the U.S. had steadily increased for many years but has recently dropped slightly. Women consistently have a higher life expectancy than men but have also seen a slight decrease. As of 2019, a woman in the U.S. could be expected to live up to 79.3 years.

Leading causes of death

The leading causes of death in the United States include heart disease, cancer, unintentional injuries, chronic lower respiratory diseases and cerebrovascular diseases. However, heart disease and cancer account for around 38 percent of all deaths. Although heart disease and cancer are the leading causes of death for both men and women, there are slight variations in the leading causes of death. For example, unintentional injury and suicide account for a larger portion of deaths among men than they do among women.

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).

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.

In 2023, the average life expectancy of the world was 70 years for men and 75 years for women. The lowest life expectancies were found in Africa, while Oceania and Europe had the highest.

What is life expectancy?

Life expectancy is defined as a statistical measure of how long a person may live, based on demographic factors such as gender, current age, and most importantly the year of their birth. The most commonly used measure of life expectancy is life expectancy at birth or at age zero. The calculation is based on the assumption that mortality rates at each age were to remain constant in the future.

Life expectancy has changed drastically over time, especially during the past 200 years. In the early 20th century, the average life expectancy at birth in the developed world stood at 31 years. It has grown to an average of 70 and 75 years for males and females respectively, and is expected to keep on growing with advances in medical treatment and living standard continuing.

Highest and lowest life expectancy worldwide

Life expectancy still varies greatly between different regions and countries of the world. The biggest impact on life expectancy is the quality of public health, medical care, and diet. As of 2021, the countries with the highest life expectancy were Japan, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, and South Korea, all at 84 years. Most of the countries with the lowest life expectancy are mostly African countries. The ranking was led by the Chad, Nigeria, and Lesotho with 53 years.

On average, women live almost six years more than men in France. In 2023, female life expectancy at birth in France reached 85.7 years compared to 80 years for males. In 2021 life expectancy in France, regardless of gender, was of 82.32 years. Thus, France is one of the countries in the world with the highest life expectancy. Women outlive men According to the source there are differences in life expectancy between men and women in France. In 2004, female life expectancy in France was of 83.9, compared to 76.7 years for males. Since then, life expectancy for both genders has been evolving in a similar way. When life expectancy decreased slightly in 2015, it has affected both men and women. Similarly, when life expectancy increased. But one aspect remained the same: male life expectancy keeps being lower than female life expectancy. This difference has been seen not only in France. In Europe, females are expected to live longer than men in every region. While women in France have longer life expectancy, they are also expected to have a higher number of healthy life years. In 2013, a study from Eurostat showed that French women had a number of expected healthy years of 64.4, compared to 63 years for men. An aging population Like other Western countries, France has an aging population. French citizens aged 65 years and older are now more than French aged from 0 to 14 years old. The median age of the population in the country is increasing since the nineties, while the share of seniors reached almost 18 percent of the population in 2013.

In 2021, a woman in the United States aged 65 years could expect to live another 19.7 years on average. This number decreased in the years 2020 and 2021, after reaching a high of 20.8 years in 2019. Nevertheless, the life expectancy of a woman aged 65 years in the United States is still higher than that of a man of that age. In 2021, a man aged 65 years could be expected to live another 17 years on average.

Why has the life expectancy in the U.S. declined? Overall, life expectancy in the United States has declined in recent years. In 2019, the life expectancy for U.S. women was 81.4 years, but by 2021 it had decreased to 79.3 years. Likewise, the life expectancy for men decreased from 76.3 years to 73.5 years in the same period. The biggest contributors to this decline in life expectancy are the COVID-19 pandemic and the opioid epidemic. Although deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic have decreased significantly since 2022, deaths from opioid overdose continue to increase, reaching all-time highs in 2021.

The leading causes of death among U.S. women The leading causes of death among women in the United States in 2020 were heart disease, cancer, and COVID-19. That year heart disease and cancer accounted for a combined 37 percent of all deaths among women, while around 10 percent of deaths were due to COVID-19. The overall leading causes of death in the United States generally reflect the leading causes among women with some slight variations. For example, Alzheimer’s disease is the fourth leading cause of death among women, but the seventh leading cause of death overall in the United States.

The life expectancy for a newborn, regardless of gender, born in 2022 in Poland was 78 years. Statistically, women live longer than men. However, males born in the Malopolska voivodship will live the longest (76 years) compared to other regions in Poland, i.e., three years longer than in the Łódzkie voivodship, where the average life expectancy at birth was the lowest in Poland — 73 years.

In 2022 life expectancy for both males and females at birth fell when compared to 2021. Male life expectancy fell from 78.71 years to 78.57 years, and from 82.68 years to 82.57 years for women.

This statistic depicts the average life expectancy at birth worldwide in 1990 and 2019, by gender. In 2019, women had an average life expectancy of 75.9 years at birth, while men were expected to live 70.8 years.

The average life expectancy at birth in France for men in 2023 was 80.1 years. Although high, the country observed disparities within its territory with a gap of more than eight years of life expectancy between the two extremes. Île-de-France is the region where men live the longest on average and Mayotte (overseas department) the one where they live the shortest.

As of 2023, the countries with the highest life expectancy included Switzerland, Japan, and Spain. As of that time, a new-born child in Switzerland could expect to live an average of 84.2 years. Around the world, females consistently have a higher average life expectancy than males, with females in Europe expected to live an average of six years longer than males on this continent. Increases in life expectancy The overall average life expectancy in OECD countries increased by 11.3 years from 1970 to 2019. The countries that saw the largest increases included Turkey, India, and South Korea. The life expectancy at birth in Turkey increased an astonishing 24.4 years over this period. The countries with the lowest life expectancy worldwide as of 2022 were Chad, Lesotho, and Nigeria, where a newborn could be expected to live an average of 53 years. Life expectancy in the U.S. The life expectancy in the United States was 77.43 years as of 2022. Shockingly, the life expectancy in the United States has decreased in recent years, while it continues to increase in other similarly developed countries. The COVID-19 pandemic and increasing rates of suicide and drug overdose deaths from the opioid epidemic have been cited as reasons for this decrease.

This statistic shows the average life expectancy in Europe for those born in 2024, by gender and region. The average life expectancy in Western Europe was 79 years for males and 84 years for females in 2024. Additional information on European life expectancy The difference in life expectancy seen between men and women across all European regions is in line with the global trends of women outliving men, on average. The average life expectancy at birth worldwide by income group shows that the gender life expectancy gap is not only a consistent trend across countries, but also income groups. Moreover, the higher life expectancy for those in high income groups may help to explain the lower average life expectancy for those born in Eastern Europe where average incomes are generally lower than other European regions. Although income and length of life are not directly correlated, higher income individuals are generally able to afford access to superior nutrition and healthcare as well as having leisure time for exercise. That said, current trends in the increases in life expectancy worldwide by country between 1970 and 2017 suggest economic growth will lead to larger increases in life expectancy. Those increases are less likely to occur to such a degree in the more developed regions of Europe where Italy, Spain, France, Switzerland, Iceland and Austria all rank in the top 20 countries with the highest life expectancy.

In 2022, the average life expectancy of women in Japan was approximately 87.1 years, whereas the life expectancy of men reached around 81.1 years. The average life expectancy of both men and women in Japan indicated a decrease for two consecutive years. Aging workforce Japan has one of the highest proportions of senior citizens worldwide, with almost 30 percent of the country’s population aged 65 years and older. The growing average life expectancy and declining fertility rates led to this demographic shift. To secure the nation's workforce despite the aging population, the Japanese government amended the Act on Stabilization of Employment of Elderly Persons in 2021 and requested Japanese enterprises to raise the retirement age to 70 for employees who wish to continue working after turning 60 or 65. Causes of death The leading causes of death in Japan are malignant neoplasms, heart diseases, and cerebrovascular diseases. Lung cancer is the most mortal cancer site among Japanese men and women, but its mortality risk has declined from the 1990s onward. This development can be partially attributed to the downward trend in tobacco consumption. Since peaking in the 1970s, tobacco consumption in Japan has steadily declined, noticeable from the continuous decrease in the cigarette industry’s annual sales volume growth. Apart from a growing awareness regarding health risks, this downward movement can be explained by a tightening of prefectural no-smoking policies in the streets, many restaurants, and public places in general.

Over the last two observations, the life expectancy has significantly increased in all gender groups As part of the positive trend, the life expectancy reaches the maximum value for the different genders at the end of the comparison period. Particularly noteworthy is the life expectancy of women at birth, which has the highest value of 84.9 years. Life expectancy at birth refers to the number of years that the average newborn can expect to live, providing that mortality patterns at the time of their birth do not change thereafter.Find further similar statistics for other countries or regions like Hong Kong SAR China and The Bahamas.

It is only in the past two centuries where demographics and the development of human populations has emerged as a subject in its own right, as industrialization and improvements in medicine gave way to exponential growth of the world's population. There are very few known demographic studies conducted before the 1800s, which means that modern scholars have had to use a variety of documents from centuries gone by, along with archeological and anthropological studies, to try and gain a better understanding of the world's demographic development. Genealogical records One such method is the study of genealogical records from the past; luckily, there are many genealogies relating to European families that date back as far as medieval times. Unfortunately, however, all of these studies relate to families in the upper and elite classes; this is not entirely representative of the overall population as these families had a much higher standard of living and were less susceptible to famine or malnutrition than the average person (although elites were more likely to die during times of war). Nonetheless, there is much to be learned from this data. Impact of the Black Death In the centuries between 1200 and 1745, English male aristocrats who made it to their 21st birthday were generally expected to live to an age between 62 and 72 years old. The only century where life expectancy among this group was much lower was in the 1300s, where the Black Death caused life expectancy among adult English noblemen to drop to just 45 years. Experts assume that the pre-plague population of England was somewhere between four and seven million people in the thirteenth century, and just two million in the fourteenth century, meaning that Britain lost at least half of its population due to the plague. Although the plague only peaked in England for approximately eighteen months, between 1348 and 1350, it devastated the entire population, and further outbreaks in the following decades caused life expectancy in the decade to drop further. The bubonic plague did return to England sporadically until the mid-seventeenth century, although life expectancy among English male aristocrats rose again in the centuries following the worst outbreak, and even peaked at more than 71 years in the first half of the sixteenth century.

In 2022, the life expectancy at birth for women born in the UK was 82.57 years, compared with 78.57 years for men. By age 65 men had a life expectancy of 18.25 years, compared with 20.76 years for women.

The life expectancy of men at birth in India saw no significant changes in 2022 in comparison to the previous year 2021 and remained at around 66.26 years. Life expectancy at birth refers to the number of years the average newborn is expected to live, providing that mortality patterns at the time of birth do not change thereafter.Find more statistics on other topics about India with key insights such as life expectancy of women at birth, crude birth rate, and death rate.

The life expectancy experiences significant growth in all gender groups in 2022. Comparing the two different gender groups for the year 2022, the 'life expectancy of women at birth' leads the ranking with 77.77 years. Contrastingly, 'life expectancy of men at birth' is ranked last, with 67.57 years. Their difference, compared to life expectancy of women at birth, lies at 10.2 years. Life expectancy at birth refers to the number of years the average newborn is expected to live, providing that mortality patterns at the time of birth do not change thereafter.Find further similar statistics for other countries or regions like Thailand and Brunei.

In Asia, the highest levels of life expectancy were found in East Asia, reaching 76 years for men and 82 years for women. The lowest levels were found in South Asia.

What is life expectancy

Life expectancy is, in the statistical sense, the number of years to be lived. It is the most common measure to describe population health. The life expectancy is an average and a person may die several years before or several years after their expected survival.

Economic circumstances also affect life expectancy. Life expectancy in the wealthiest countries is higher than in the poorest areas. With a life expectancy of 84 years, Japan, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, and South Korea lead the ranking of the 20 countries with the highest life expectancy as of 2021. The countries with the lowest life expectancy in 2021 were Chad, Nigeria, and Lesotho.

Gender and life expectancy

The gender differences in life expectancy are significant. Women tend to live several years longer than men. The average life expectancy worldwide of those born in 2023 shows that women had an average life expectancy of 75 years at birth, while men were expected to live 70 years.