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.

Historical chart and dataset showing World life expectancy by year from 1950 to 2025.

In 2024, the average life expectancy in the world was 71 years for men and 76 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 standards 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 2022, the countries with the highest life expectancy were Japan, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, and Australia, all at 84–83 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 53–54 years.

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.

Over the past 75 years, women have generally had a higher life expectancy than men by around 4-6 years. Reasons for this difference include higher susceptibility to childhood diseases among males; higher rates of accidental deaths, conflict-related deaths, and suicide among adult men; and higher prevalence of unhealthy lifestyle habits and chronic illnesses, as well as higher susceptibility to chronic diseases among men. Therefore, men not only have lower life expectancy than women overall, but also throughout each stage of life. Throughout the given period, there were notable dips in life expectancy for both sexes, including a roughly four year drop in 1960 due to China's so-called Great Leap Forward, and a 1.8 year drop due to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021. Across the world, differences in life expectancy can vary between the sexes by large margins. In countries such as the Nordics, for example, the difference is low due to high-quality healthcare systems and access, as well as high quality diets and lifestyles. In Eastern Europe, however, the difference is over 10 years in Russia and Ukraine due to the war, although the differences were already very pronounced in this region before 2022, in large part driven by unhealthier lifestyles among men.

The average for 2022 based on 47 countries was 71.89 years. The highest value was in Macao: 82.75 years and the lowest value was in Afghanistan: 59.77 years. The indicator is available from 1960 to 2022. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

Men born in Chad have the lowest life expectancy in the world as of 2024, reaching only 53 years. The lowest life expectancy for women in the world in 2024 was for girls born in Nigeria, with only 55 years. Except for Afghanistan, all the countries with the lowest life expectancy in the world are in Africa.

The average for 2022 based on 24 countries was 77.36 years. The highest value was in Bermuda: 84.51 years and the lowest value was in Haiti: 66.7 years. The indicator is available from 1960 to 2022. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

Georgia GE: Life Expectancy at Birth: Total data was reported at 73.261 Year in 2016. This records an increase from the previous number of 73.096 Year for 2015. Georgia GE: Life Expectancy at Birth: Total data is updated yearly, averaging 70.220 Year from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2016, with 57 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 73.261 Year in 2016 and a record low of 63.651 Year in 1960. Georgia GE: Life Expectancy at Birth: Total data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Georgia – Table GE.World Bank: Health Statistics. 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.; ; (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects: 2017 Revision, or derived from male and female life expectancy at birth from sources such as: (2) Census reports and other statistical publications from national statistical offices, (3) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, (4) United Nations Statistical Division. Population and Vital Statistics Reprot (various years), (5) U.S. Census Bureau: International Database, and (6) Secretariat of the Pacific Community: Statistics and Demography Programme.; Weighted average;

Monaco had the highest life expectancy among both men and women worldwide as of 2024. That year, life expectancy for men and women was ** and ** years, respectively. The East Asian countries and regions, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, and Macao, followed. Many of the countries on the list are struggling with aging populations and a declining workforce as more people enter retirement age compared to people entering employment.

Colombia CO: Life Expectancy at Birth: Total data was reported at 77.725 Year in 2023. This records an increase from the previous number of 76.508 Year for 2022. Colombia CO: Life Expectancy at Birth: Total data is updated yearly, averaging 68.768 Year from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2023, with 64 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 77.725 Year in 2023 and a record low of 56.609 Year in 1960. Colombia CO: Life Expectancy at Birth: Total data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Colombia – Table CO.World Bank.WDI: Social: Health Statistics. 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.;(1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects: 2024 Revision; or derived from male and female life expectancy at birth from sources such as: (2) Statistical databases and publications from national statistical offices; (3) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics.;Weighted average;

ERBE_S10N_WFOV_SF_ERBS_AreaAverageTimeSeries is the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) through Earth Radiation Budget Satellite (ERBS) area average time series through Wide-field-of-view nonscanner abroad Earth Radiation Budget Satellite Edition 4.1 data product. Understanding the mean and variability of the Earth’s radiation budget (ERB) at the Top-of-Atmosphere (TOA) and surface is a fundamental quantity governing climate variability and, for that reason, NASA has been making concerted efforts to observe the ERB since1984 through two projects: ERBE and Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES), that span nearly 30 years to date. The ERBE MEaSUREs project uses knowledge gained in the last 10 years through CERES data analyses and applies the knowledge to existing data to develop long-term (nearly 30 years) consistent and calibrated data product (TOA irradiances at the same radiometric scale) from multiple missions (ERBS and CERES). This project proposes to produce level 3 surface irradiance products that are consistent with observed TOA irradiances in a framework of 1D radiative transfer theory. Based on these TOA and surface irradiance products, a data product will be developed which contains the contribution of atmospheric and cloud property variability to TOA and surface irradiance variability. All algorithms used in the process are based on existing CERES algorithms. All data sets produced by this project will be available from the Atmospheric Science Data Center.

Understanding the mean and variability of the Earth’s radiation budget (ERB) at the Top-of-Atmosphere (TOA) and surface is a fundamental quantity governing climate variability and, for that reason, NASA has been making concerted efforts to observe the ERB since1984 through two projects: ERBE and CERES, that span nearly 30 years to date. The proposed project utilizes knowledge gained in the last 10 years through CERES data analyses and apply the knowledge to existing data to develop long-term (nearly 30 years) consistent and calibrated data product (TOA irradiances at the same radiometric scale) from multiple missions (ERBS and CERES). This project proposes to produce level 3 surface irradiance products that are consistent with observed TOA irradiances in a framework of 1D radiative transfer theory. Based on these TOA and surface irradiance products, a data product will be developed which contains the contribution of atmospheric and cloud property variability to TOA and surface irradiance variability. All algorithms used in the process are based on existing CERES algorithms. All data sets produced by this project will be available from the Atmospheric Science Data Center.

The average for 2022 based on 11 countries was 72.94 years. The highest value was in Singapore: 82.9 years and the lowest value was in Burma (Myanmar): 67.26 years. The indicator is available from 1960 to 2022. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

United Kingdom UK: Life Expectancy at Birth: Total data was reported at 80.956 Year in 2016. This stayed constant from the previous number of 80.956 Year for 2015. United Kingdom UK: Life Expectancy at Birth: Total data is updated yearly, averaging 75.380 Year from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2016, with 57 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 81.305 Year in 2014 and a record low of 70.827 Year in 1963. United Kingdom UK: Life Expectancy at Birth: Total data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s UK – Table UK.World Bank: Health Statistics. 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.; ; (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects: 2017 Revision, or derived from male and female life expectancy at birth from sources such as: (2) Census reports and other statistical publications from national statistical offices, (3) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, (4) United Nations Statistical Division. Population and Vital Statistics Reprot (various years), (5) U.S. Census Bureau: International Database, and (6) Secretariat of the Pacific Community: Statistics and Demography Programme.; Weighted average;

Context

The United States Census Bureau’s international dataset provides estimates of country populations since 1950 and projections through 2050. Specifically, the dataset includes midyear population figures broken down by age and gender assignment at birth. Additionally, time-series data is provided for attributes including fertility rates, birth rates, death rates, and migration rates.

Querying BigQuery tables

You can use the BigQuery Python client library to query tables in this dataset in Kernels. Note that methods available in Kernels are limited to querying data. Tables are at bigquery-public-data.census_bureau_international.

Sample Query 1

What countries have the longest life expectancy? In this query, 2016 census information is retrieved by joining the mortality_life_expectancy and country_names_area tables for countries larger than 25,000 km2. Without the size constraint, Monaco is the top result with an average life expectancy of over 89 years!

standardSQL

SELECT age.country_name, age.life_expectancy, size.country_area FROM ( SELECT country_name, life_expectancy FROM bigquery-public-data.census_bureau_international.mortality_life_expectancy WHERE year = 2016) age INNER JOIN ( SELECT country_name, country_area FROM bigquery-public-data.census_bureau_international.country_names_area where country_area > 25000) size ON age.country_name = size.country_name ORDER BY 2 DESC /* Limit removed for Data Studio Visualization */ LIMIT 10

Sample Query 2

Which countries have the largest proportion of their population under 25? Over 40% of the world’s population is under 25 and greater than 50% of the world’s population is under 30! This query retrieves the countries with the largest proportion of young people by joining the age-specific population table with the midyear (total) population table.

standardSQL

SELECT age.country_name, SUM(age.population) AS under_25, pop.midyear_population AS total, ROUND((SUM(age.population) / pop.midyear_population) * 100,2) AS pct_under_25 FROM ( SELECT country_name, population, country_code FROM bigquery-public-data.census_bureau_international.midyear_population_agespecific WHERE year =2017 AND age < 25) age INNER JOIN ( SELECT midyear_population, country_code FROM bigquery-public-data.census_bureau_international.midyear_population WHERE year = 2017) pop ON age.country_code = pop.country_code GROUP BY 1, 3 ORDER BY 4 DESC /* Remove limit for visualization*/ LIMIT 10

Sample Query 3

The International Census dataset contains growth information in the form of birth rates, death rates, and migration rates. Net migration is the net number of migrants per 1,000 population, an important component of total population and one that often drives the work of the United Nations Refugee Agency. This query joins the growth rate table with the area table to retrieve 2017 data for countries greater than 500 km2.

SELECT growth.country_name, growth.net_migration, CAST(area.country_area AS INT64) AS country_area FROM ( SELECT country_name, net_migration, country_code FROM bigquery-public-data.census_bureau_international.birth_death_growth_rates WHERE year = 2017) growth INNER JOIN ( SELECT country_area, country_code FROM bigquery-public-data.census_bureau_international.country_names_area

Update frequency

Historic (none)

Dataset source

United States Census Bureau

Terms of use: This dataset is publicly available for anyone to use under the following terms provided by the Dataset Source - http://www.data.gov/privacy-policy#data_policy - and is provided "AS IS" without any warranty, express or implied, from Google. Google disclaims all liability for any damages, direct or indirect, resulting from the use of the dataset.

See the GCP Marketplace listing for more details and sample queries: https://console.cloud.google.com/marketplace/details/united-states-census-bureau/international-census-data

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.

ERBE_S10N_WFOV_SF_ERBS_AreaAverageTimeSeries is the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) through Earth Radiation Budget Satellite (ERBS) area average time series through Wide-field-of-view nonscanner abroad Earth Radiation Budget Satellite Edition 4.1 data product. Understanding the mean and variability of the Earth’s radiation budget (ERB) at the Top-of-Atmosphere (TOA) and surface is a fundamental quantity governing climate variability and, for that reason, NASA has been making concerted efforts to observe the ERB since1984 through two projects: ERBE and Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES), that span nearly 30 years to date.The ERBE MEaSUREs project uses knowledge gained in the last 10 years through CERES data analyses and applies the knowledge to existing data to develop long-term (nearly 30 years) consistent and calibrated data product (TOA irradiances at the same radiometric scale) from multiple missions (ERBS and CERES). This project proposes to produce level 3 surface irradiance products that are consistent with observed TOA irradiances in a framework of 1D radiative transfer theory. Based on these TOA and surface irradiance products, a data product will be developed which contains the contribution of atmospheric and cloud property variability to TOA and surface irradiance variability. All algorithms used in the process are based on existing CERES algorithms. All data sets produced by this project will be available from the Atmospheric Science Data Center.

World Population Data from the United Nations (UN), United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs Population Division World Population Prospects 2022

Notes
File (CSV, 6 KB) Location notes.

**Demographic Indicators ** Indicator reference (CSV, 4 KB) 1950-2100, medium (ZIP, 7.77 MB) 2022-2100, other scenarios (ZIP, 34.76 MB) Demographic Indicators:

Total Population, as of 1 January (thousands)
Total Population, as of 1 July (thousands)
Male Population, as of 1 July (thousands)
Female Population, as of 1 July (thousands)
Population Density, as of 1 July (persons per square km)
Population Sex Ratio, as of 1 July (males per 100 females)
Median Age, as of 1 July (years)
Natural Change, Births minus Deaths (thousands)
Rate of Natural Change (per 1,000 population)
Population Change (thousands)
Population Growth Rate (percentage)
Population Annual Doubling Time (years)
Births (thousands)
Births by women aged 15 to 19 (thousands)
Crude Birth Rate (births per 1,000 population)
Total Fertility Rate (live births per woman)
Net Reproduction Rate (surviving daughters per woman)
Mean Age Childbearing (years)
Sex Ratio at Birth (males per 100 female births)
Total Deaths (thousands)
Male Deaths (thousands)
Female Deaths (thousands)
Crude Death Rate (deaths per 1,000 population)
Life Expectancy at Birth, both sexes (years)
Male Life Expectancy at Birth (years)
Female Life Expectancy at Birth (years)
Life Expectancy at Age 15, both sexes (years)
Male Life Expectancy at Age 15 (years)
Female Life Expectancy at Age 15 (years)
Life Expectancy at Age 65, both sexes (years)
Male Life Expectancy at Age 65 (years)
Female Life Expectancy at Age 65 (years)
Life Expectancy at Age 80, both sexes (years)
Male Life Expectancy at Age 80 (years)
Female Life Expectancy at Age 80 (years)
Infant Deaths, under age 1 (thousands)
Infant Mortality Rate (infant deaths per 1,000 live births)
Live births Surviving to Age 1 (thousands)
Deaths under age 5 (thousands)
Under-five Mortality Rate (deaths under age 5 per 1,000 live births)
Mortality before Age 40, both sexes (deaths under age 40 per 1,000 live births)
Male mortality before Age 40 (deaths under age 40 per 1,000 male live births)
Female mortality before Age 40 (deaths under age 40 per 1,000 female live births)
Mortality before Age 60, both sexes (deaths under age 60 per 1,000 live births)
Male mortality before Age 60 (deaths under age 60 per 1,000 male live births)
Female mortality before Age 60 (deaths under age 60 per 1,000 female live births)
Mortality between Age 15 and 50, both sexes (deaths under age 50 per 1,000 alive at age 15)
Male mortality between Age 15 and 50 (deaths under age 50 per 1,000 males alive at age 15)
Female mortality between Age 15 and 50 (deaths under age 50 per 1,000 females alive at age 15)
Mortality between Age 15 and 60, both sexes (deaths under age 60 per 1,000 alive at age 15)
Male mortality between Age 15 and 60 (deaths under age 60 per 1,000 males alive at age 15)
Female mortality between Age 15 and 60 (deaths under age 60 per 1,000 females alive at age 15)
Net Number of Migrants (thousands)
Net Migration Rate (per 1,000 population)

Fertility
1950-2100, single age (ZIP, 78.01 MB) 1950-2100, 5-year age groups (ZIP, 22.38 MB)

Age-specific Fertility Rate (ASFR)
Percent Age-specific Fertility Rate (PASFR)
Births (thousands)

**Life Tables ** 1950-2021, medium (ZIP, 68.72 MB) 2022-2100, medium (ZIP, 74.62 MB) Abridged life tables up to age 100 by sex and both sexes combined providing a set of values showing the mortality experience of a hypothetical group of infants born at the same time and subject throughout their lifetime to the specific mortality rates of a given year, from 1950 to 2100. Only medium is available.

mx: Central death rate, nmx, for the age interval (x, x+n)
qx: Probability of dying (nqx), for an individual between age x and x+n
px: Probability of surviving, (npx), for an individual of age x to age x+n
lx: Number of survivors, (lx), at age (x) for 100000 births
dx: Number of deaths, (ndx), between ages x and x+n
Lx: Number of person-years lived, (nLx), between ages x and x+n
Sx: Survival ratio (nSx) corresponding to proportion of the life table population in age group (x, x+n) who are alive n year later
Tx: Person-years lived, (Tx), above age x
ex: Expectation of life (ex) at age x, i.e., average number of years lived subsequent to age x by those reaching age x
ax: Average number of years lived (nax) between ages x and x+n by those dying in the interval

Life Tables 1950-2021 (ZIP, 94.76 MB) 2022-2100 (ZIP, 101.66 MB) Single age life tables up to age 10...

Belarus BY: Life Expectancy at Birth: Male data was reported at 69.535 Year in 2023. This records an increase from the previous number of 69.438 Year for 2022. Belarus BY: Life Expectancy at Birth: Male data is updated yearly, averaging 66.380 Year from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2023, with 64 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 69.535 Year in 2023 and a record low of 62.200 Year in 1999. Belarus BY: Life Expectancy at Birth: Male data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Belarus – Table BY.World Bank.WDI: Social: Health Statistics. 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.;(1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects: 2024 Revision; (2) Statistical databases and publications from national statistical offices; (3) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics.;Weighted average;