From the mid-19th century until today, life expectancy at birth in the United States has roughly doubled, from 39.4 years in 1850 to 79.6 years in 2025. It is estimated that life expectancy in the U.S. began its upward trajectory in the 1880s, largely driven by the decline in infant and child mortality through factors such as vaccination programs, antibiotics, and other healthcare advancements. Improved food security and access to clean water, as well as general increases in living standards (such as better housing, education, and increased safety) also contributed to a rise in life expectancy across all age brackets. There were notable dips in life expectancy; with an eight year drop during the American Civil War in the 1860s, a seven year drop during the Spanish Flu empidemic in 1918, and a 2.5 year drop during the Covid-19 pandemic. There were also notable plateaus (and minor decreases) not due to major historical events, such as that of the 2010s, which has been attributed to a combination of factors such as unhealthy lifestyles, poor access to healthcare, poverty, and increased suicide rates, among others. However, despite the rate of progress slowing since the 1950s, most decades do see a general increase in the long term, and current UN projections predict that life expectancy at birth in the U.S. will increase by another nine years before the end of the century.

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.

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.

This dataset of U.S. mortality trends since 1900 highlights the differences in age-adjusted death rates and life expectancy at birth by race and sex.

Age-adjusted death rates (deaths per 100,000) after 1998 are calculated based on the 2000 U.S. standard population. Populations used for computing death rates for 2011–2017 are postcensal estimates based on the 2010 census, estimated as of July 1, 2010. Rates for census years are based on populations enumerated in the corresponding censuses. Rates for noncensus years between 2000 and 2010 are revised using updated intercensal population estimates and may differ from rates previously published. Data on age-adjusted death rates prior to 1999 are taken from historical data (see References below).

Life expectancy data are available up to 2017. Due to changes in categories of race used in publications, data are not available for the black population consistently before 1968, and not at all before 1960. More information on historical data on age-adjusted death rates is available at https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/mortality/hist293.htm.

SOURCES

CDC/NCHS, National Vital Statistics System, historical data, 1900-1998 (see https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/mortality_historical_data.htm); CDC/NCHS, National Vital Statistics System, mortality data (see http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/deaths.htm); and CDC WONDER (see http://wonder.cdc.gov).

REFERENCES

1. National Center for Health Statistics, Data Warehouse. Comparability of cause-of-death between ICD revisions. 2008. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/mortality/comparability_icd.htm.

2. National Center for Health Statistics. Vital statistics data available. Mortality multiple cause files. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data_access/vitalstatsonline.htm.

3. Kochanek KD, Murphy SL, Xu JQ, Arias E. Deaths: Final data for 2017. National Vital Statistics Reports; vol 68 no 9. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2019. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr68/nvsr68_09-508.pdf.

4. Arias E, Xu JQ. United States life tables, 2017. National Vital Statistics Reports; vol 68 no 7. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2019. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr68/nvsr68_07-508.pdf.

5. National Center for Health Statistics. Historical Data, 1900-1998. 2009. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/mortality_historical_data.htm.

Life expectancy in the United Kingdom was below 39 years in the year 1765, and over the course of the next two and a half centuries, it is expected to have increased by more than double, to 81.1 by the year 2020. Although life expectancy has generally increased throughout the UK's history, there were several times where the rate deviated from its previous trajectory. These changes were the result of smallpox epidemics in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, new sanitary and medical advancements throughout time (such as compulsory vaccination), and the First world War and Spanish Flu epidemic in the 1910s.

Global life expectancy at birth has risen significantly since the mid-1900s, from roughly 46 years in 1950 to 73.2 years in 2023. Post-COVID-19 projections There was a drop of 1.7 years during the COVID-19 pandemic, between 2019 and 2021, however, figures resumed upon their previous trajectory the following year due to the implementation of vaccination campaigns and the lower severity of later strains of the virus. By the end of the century it is believed that global life expectancy from birth will reach 82 years, although growth will slow in the coming decades as many of the more-populous Asian countries reach demographic maturity. However, there is still expected to be a wide gap between various regions at the end of the 2100s, with the Europe and North America expected to have life expectancies around 90 years, whereas Sub-Saharan Africa is predicted to be in the low-70s. The Great Leap Forward While a decrease of one year during the COVID-19 pandemic may appear insignificant, this is the largest decline in life expectancy since the "Great Leap Forward" in China in 1958, which caused global life expectancy to fall by almost four years between by 1960. The "Great Leap Forward" was a series of modernizing reforms, which sought to rapidly transition China's agrarian economy into an industrial economy, but mismanagement led to tens of millions of deaths through famine and disease.

Life expectancy in India was 25.4 in the year 1800, and over the course of the next 220 years, it has increased to almost 70. Between 1800 and 1920, life expectancy in India remained in the mid to low twenties, with the largest declines coming in the 1870s and 1910s; this was because of the Great Famine of 1876-1878, and the Spanish Flu Pandemic of 1918-1919, both of which were responsible for the deaths of up to six and seventeen million Indians respectively; as well as the presence of other endemic diseases in the region, such as smallpox. From 1920 onwards, India's life expectancy has consistently increased, but it is still below the global average.

This dataset of U.S. mortality trends since 1900 highlights trends in age-adjusted death rates for five selected major causes of death. Age-adjusted death rates (deaths per 100,000) after 1998 are calculated based on the 2000 U.S. standard population. Populations used for computing death rates for 2011–2017 are postcensal estimates based on the 2010 census, estimated as of July 1, 2010. Rates for census years are based on populations enumerated in the corresponding censuses. Rates for noncensus years between 2000 and 2010 are revised using updated intercensal population estimates and may differ from rates previously published. Data on age-adjusted death rates prior to 1999 are taken from historical data (see References below). Revisions to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) over time may result in discontinuities in cause-of-death trends. SOURCES CDC/NCHS, National Vital Statistics System, historical data, 1900-1998 (see https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/mortality_historical_data.htm); CDC/NCHS, National Vital Statistics System, mortality data (see http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/deaths.htm); and CDC WONDER (see http://wonder.cdc.gov). REFERENCES National Center for Health Statistics, Data Warehouse. Comparability of cause-of-death between ICD revisions. 2008. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/mortality/comparability_icd.htm. National Center for Health Statistics. Vital statistics data available. Mortality multiple cause files. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data_access/vitalstatsonline.htm. Kochanek KD, Murphy SL, Xu JQ, Arias E. Deaths: Final data for 2017. National Vital Statistics Reports; vol 68 no 9. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2019. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr68/nvsr68_09-508.pdf. Arias E, Xu JQ. United States life tables, 2017. National Vital Statistics Reports; vol 68 no 7. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2019. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr68/nvsr68_07-508.pdf. National Center for Health Statistics. Historical Data, 1900-1998. 2009. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/mortality_historical_data.htm.

This dataset of U.S. mortality trends since 1900 highlights childhood mortality rates by age group for age at death. Age-adjusted death rates (deaths per 100,000) after 1998 are calculated based on the 2000 U.S. standard population. Populations used for computing death rates for 2011–2017 are postcensal estimates based on the 2010 census, estimated as of July 1, 2010. Rates for census years are based on populations enumerated in the corresponding censuses. Rates for noncensus years between 2000 and 2010 are revised using updated intercensal population estimates and may differ from rates previously published. Data on age-adjusted death rates prior to 1999 are taken from historical data (see References below). Age groups for childhood death rates are based on age at death. SOURCES CDC/NCHS, National Vital Statistics System, historical data, 1900-1998 (see https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/mortality_historical_data.htm); CDC/NCHS, National Vital Statistics System, mortality data (see http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/deaths.htm); and CDC WONDER (see http://wonder.cdc.gov). REFERENCES National Center for Health Statistics, Data Warehouse. Comparability of cause-of-death between ICD revisions. 2008. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/mortality/comparability_icd.htm. National Center for Health Statistics. Vital statistics data available. Mortality multiple cause files. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data_access/vitalstatsonline.htm. Kochanek KD, Murphy SL, Xu JQ, Arias E. Deaths: Final data for 2017. National Vital Statistics Reports; vol 68 no 9. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2019. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr68/nvsr68_09-508.pdf. Arias E, Xu JQ. United States life tables, 2017. National Vital Statistics Reports; vol 68 no 7. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2019. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr68/nvsr68_07-508.pdf. National Center for Health Statistics. Historical Data, 1900-1998. 2009. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/mortality_historical_data.htm.

Life expectancy in Sweden was 36 in the year 1765, and over the course of the next 255 years, it is expected to have increased to 82.6 by 2020. Although life expectancy has generally increased throughout Sweden's history, there was a lot of fluctuation around the turn of the nineteenth century due to The Napoleonic Wars and First Cholera Epidemic, and again in the 1910s due to the Spanish Flu Epidemic.

Life expectancy in Japan was 36.4 in the year 1860, and over the course of the next 160 years, it is expected to have increased to 84.4, which is the second highest in the world (after Monaco). Although life expectancy has generally increased throughout Japan's history, there were several times where the rate deviated from its previous trajectory. These changes were a result of the Spanish Flu in the 1910s, the Second World War in the 1940s, and the sharp increase was due to the high rate of industrialization and economic prosperity in Japan, in the mid-twentieth century.

This table presents a wide variety of historical data in the field of health, lifestyle and health care. Figures on births and mortality, causes of death and the occurrence of certain infectious diseases are available from 1900, other series from later dates. In addition to self-perceived health, the table contains figures on infectious diseases, hospitalisations per diagnosis, life expectancy, lifestyle factors such as smoking, alcohol consumption and obesity, and causes of death. The table also gives information on several aspects of health care, such as the number of practising professionals, the number of available hospital beds, nursing day averages and the expenditures on care. Many subjects are also covered in more detail by data in other tables, although sometimes with a shorter history. Data on notifiable infectious diseases and HIV/AIDS are not included in other tables.

Data available from: 1900

Status of the figures:

2025: The available figures are definite.

2024: Most available figures are definite. Figures are provisional for: - notifiable infectious diseases, hiv, aids; - causes of death.

2023: Most available figures are definite. Figures are provisional for: - notifiable infectious diseases, HIV/AIDS; - diagnoses at hospital admissions; - number of hospital discharges and length of stay; - number of hospital beds; - health professions; - perinatal and infant mortality. Figures are revised provisional for: - expenditures on health and welfare.

2022: Most available figures are definite. Figures are provisional for: - notifiable infectious diseases, HIV/AIDS; - diagnoses at hospital admissions; - number of hospital discharges and length of stay; - number of hospital beds; - health professions. Figures are revised provisional for: - expenditures on health and welfare.

2021: Most available figures are definite. Figures are provisional for: - notifiable infectious diseases, HIV/AIDS; Figures are revised provisional for: - expenditures on health and welfare.

2020 and earlier: Most available figures are definite. Due to 'dynamic' registrations, figures for notifiable infectious diseases, HIV/AIDS remain provisional.

Changes as of 4 July 2025: The most recent available figures have been added for: - population on January 1; - live born children, deaths; - persons in (very) good health; - notifiable infectious diseases, HIV/AIDS; - diagnoses at hospital admissions; - use of medication; - sickness absence; - lifestyle; - use of health care services; - number of hospital discharges and length of stay; - number of hospital beds; - health professions; - expenditures on health and welfare; - healthy life expectancy; - causes of death.

Changes as of 18 december 2024: - Due to a revision of the statistics Health and welfare expenditure 2021, figures for expenditure on health and welfare have been replaced from 2021 onwards. - Revised figures on the volume index of healthcare costs are not yet available, these figures have been deleted from 2021 onwards.

When will new figures be published? December 2025.

Between 1900 and 1950, Egypt’s life expectancy saw little change, hovering around 33 years, with the only decrease coming in the 1910s during the Spanish Flu epidemic and the Second World War. However, following the removal of the monarchy and establishment of the Egyptian republic in the 1952 Revolution, life expectancy saw a several decade rise, largely due to a significant expansion of the economy, health services, and other forms of social welfare; this increase then slowed between 1960 and 1975 as the economic growth in the country slowed, but it then increased to 68 years at the turn of the millennium. Since 2000, this growth has slowed, as a mixture of high population growth, high unemployment, and significant civil unrest have hit the country in the last two decades, although it has still reached 72 years in 2020, which is just one year below the global life expectancy.

This dataset contains information on the number of deaths and age-adjusted death rates for the five leading causes of death in 1900, 1950, and 2000. Age-adjusted death rates (deaths per 100,000) after 1998 are calculated based on the 2000 U.S. standard population. Populations used for computing death rates for 2011–2017 are postcensal estimates based on the 2010 census, estimated as of July 1, 2010. Rates for census years are based on populations enumerated in the corresponding censuses. Rates for noncensus years between 2000 and 2010 are revised using updated intercensal population estimates and may differ from rates previously published. Data on age-adjusted death rates prior to 1999 are taken from historical data (see References below). SOURCES CDC/NCHS, National Vital Statistics System, historical data, 1900-1998 (see https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/mortality_historical_data.htm); CDC/NCHS, National Vital Statistics System, mortality data (see http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/deaths.htm); and CDC WONDER (see http://wonder.cdc.gov). REFERENCES National Center for Health Statistics, Data Warehouse. Comparability of cause-of-death between ICD revisions. 2008. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/mortality/comparability_icd.htm. National Center for Health Statistics. Vital statistics data available. Mortality multiple cause files. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data_access/vitalstatsonline.htm. Kochanek KD, Murphy SL, Xu JQ, Arias E. Deaths: Final data for 2017. National Vital Statistics Reports; vol 68 no 9. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2019. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr68/nvsr68_09-508.pdf. Arias E, Xu JQ. United States life tables, 2017. National Vital Statistics Reports; vol 68 no 7. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2019. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr68/nvsr68_07-508.pdf. National Center for Health Statistics. Historical Data, 1900-1998. 2009. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/mortality_historical_data.htm.

Life expectancy in France was below thirty in the late 1700s, but over the course of the next two and a half centuries it is expected to reach 82.5 by the year 2020. Although life expectancy has generally increased throughout France's history, there were several times where the rate deviated from its previous trajectory. The most noticeable changes were because of smallpox and influenza epidemics in the 1700s, medical advancements (such as vaccination and pasteurization) saw life expectancy increase in the 1800s, and then both World Wars and the epidemics that followed caused brief drops in the first half of the twentieth century.

The U.S. Small-area Life Expectancy Estimates Project (USALEEP) is a partnership of NCHS, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF)External, and the National Association for Public Health Statistics and Information Systems (NAPHSIS)External to produce a new measure of health for where you live. The USALEEP project produced estimates of life expectancy at birth—the average number of years a person can expect to live—for most of the census tracts in the United States for the period 2010-2015. These estimates were published in September, 2018."A growing body of research is recognizing the importance of measuring mortality outcomes in small geographic areas, such as U.S. census tracts, to identify health disparities within a population. The indicator most widely identified as the ideal measure of a population’s mortality experience is life expectancy at birth. The concept of life expectancy is intuitive and easily understood by both policymakers and the lay public. Life expectancy is estimated for national populations by most developed countries, including the United States, which has produced the estimate annually since 1945 and decennially since 1900. However, its calculation is relatively complex compared with that of other summary mortality measures, because it entails the calculation of six distinct functions and requires a minimum number of age groups and total population size, below\ which the estimates become unstable and unreliable." - USALEEP Methodology Summary The methodology used to calculate the U.S. censustract abridged life tables consisted of several stages. First, through a collaboration between the National Vital Statistics System registration areas and the National Center for Health Statistics, death records of U.S. residents (excluding residents of Maine and Wisconsin) for deaths occurring in 2010 through 2015 were geocoded using decedents’ residential addresses to identify and code census tracts. Second, population estimates were produced based on the 2010 decennial census and the 2011–2015 American Community Survey 5-year survey. Third, a methodology that combined standard demographic techniques and statistical modeling was developed to address challenges posed by small population sizes and small and missing age-specific death counts. Last, standard, abridged life table methods were adjusted to account for error introduced by population estimates based on sample data. To review the full methodology, please use the following link: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_02/sr02_181.pdf

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.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner. The aim of this project was to analyse the changing geography of mortality decline in England and Wales between 1851 and 1911 via the cause of death by age data for registration districts published in the Registrar General's Decennial Supplements. Main Topics: 1851-1860 and 1861-1870 Mean population by registration district and sex, total deaths by registration district and sex, causes of death by registration district, sex and age group. 1871-1880 Mean population by registration district and sex, total deaths by registration district and sex, causes of death by registration district and age group, total marriages, total births. 1881-1890 and 1891-1900 Mean population by registration district and sex, total deaths by registration district and sex, causes of death by registration district and sex, causes of death by registration district and age group, total marriages, total births. Please note: this study does not include information on named individuals and would therefore not be useful for personal family history research.

Life expectancy in Germany was below 39 in the year 1875, and over the course of the next 145 years, it is expected to have increased to above 81 years in the year 2020. Although life expectancy has generally increased throughout Germany's history, there were several times where the rate deviated from its previous trajectory. The most notable changes were because of the First and Second World Wars, in the first half of the twentieth century.

The probability of dying between birth and the exact age of 1, expressed per 1,000 live births. The data is sorted by both sex and total and includes a range of values from 1900 to 2019. The calculation for infant mortality rates is derived from a standard period abridged life table using the age-specific deaths and mid-year population counts from civil registration data. This data is sourced from the UN Inter-Agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation. The UN IGME uses the same estimation method across all countries to arrive at a smooth trend curve of age-specific mortality rates. The estimates are based on high quality nationally representative data including statistics from civil registration systems, results from household surveys, and censuses. The child mortality estimates are produced in conjunction with national level agencies such as a country’s Ministry of Health, National Statistics Office, or other relevant agencies.