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.

The significant increase in life expectancy over the past 75 years has largely been driven by reductions in infant and child mortality, and has seen life expectancy from birth increase by 27 years between 1950 and 2024. However, this is not the only driver of increased life expectancy, as humanity has also got much better at prolonging life for adults. In 1950, 65-year-olds could expect to live for another 11 years on average, while this has risen to almost 18 years in 2024. The notable dips in life expectancy are due to China's Great Leap Forward around 1960, famine and conflict in Asia (especially Bangladesh) around 1970, and the COVID-19 pandemic in the early 2020s.

China life expectancy for 2025 is 77.81, a 0.22% increase from 2024.

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

<li>China life expectancy for 2024 was <strong>77.64</strong>, a <strong>0.22% increase</strong> from 2023.</li>
<li>China life expectancy for 2023 was <strong>77.47</strong>, a <strong>0.22% increase</strong> from 2022.</li>
<li>China life expectancy for 2022 was <strong>77.30</strong>, a <strong>0.22% 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.

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.

Vietnam life expectancy for 2025 is 76.04, a 0.18% increase from 2024.

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

<li>Vietnam life expectancy for 2024 was <strong>75.91</strong>, a <strong>0.18% increase</strong> from 2023.</li>
<li>Vietnam life expectancy for 2023 was <strong>75.77</strong>, a <strong>0.13% increase</strong> from 2022.</li>
<li>Vietnam life expectancy for 2022 was <strong>75.67</strong>, a <strong>0.13% 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.

Poland life expectancy for 2025 is 79.60, a 0.21% increase from 2024.

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

<li>Poland life expectancy for 2024 was <strong>79.43</strong>, a <strong>0.21% increase</strong> from 2023.</li>
<li>Poland life expectancy for 2023 was <strong>79.27</strong>, a <strong>0.2% increase</strong> from 2022.</li>
<li>Poland life expectancy for 2022 was <strong>79.11</strong>, a <strong>0.21% 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.

Spain life expectancy for 2025 is 84.25, a 0.15% increase from 2024.

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

<li>Spain life expectancy for 2024 was <strong>84.12</strong>, a <strong>0.28% increase</strong> from 2023.</li>
<li>Spain life expectancy for 2023 was <strong>83.88</strong>, a <strong>0.9% increase</strong> from 2022.</li>
<li>Spain life expectancy for 2022 was <strong>83.13</strong>, a <strong>0.05% decline</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.

Africa life expectancy for 2025 is 64.64, a 0.41% increase from 2024.

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

<li>Africa life expectancy for 2024 was <strong>64.38</strong>, a <strong>0.41% increase</strong> from 2023.</li>
<li>Africa life expectancy for 2023 was <strong>64.11</strong>, a <strong>0.45% increase</strong> from 2022.</li>
<li>Africa life expectancy for 2022 was <strong>63.82</strong>, a <strong>0.46% 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.

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.

Egypt life expectancy for 2025 is 72.85, a 0.21% increase from 2024.

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

<li>Egypt life expectancy for 2024 was <strong>72.69</strong>, a <strong>1.48% increase</strong> from 2023.</li>
<li>Egypt life expectancy for 2023 was <strong>71.63</strong>, a <strong>0.88% increase</strong> from 2022.</li>
<li>Egypt life expectancy for 2022 was <strong>71.01</strong>, a <strong>2.95% 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.

Greece life expectancy for 2025 is 83.10, a 0.18% increase from 2024.

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

<li>Greece life expectancy for 2024 was <strong>82.95</strong>, a <strong>1.74% increase</strong> from 2023.</li>
<li>Greece life expectancy for 2023 was <strong>81.54</strong>, a <strong>0.93% increase</strong> from 2022.</li>
<li>Greece life expectancy for 2022 was <strong>80.79</strong>, a <strong>0.88% 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.

In 2023, the average life expectancy at birth for men and women in South Korea was estimated to stand at 81.2 years and 87.2 years, respectively. Life expectancy at birth was particular low for men at the start of the 1950s due to the Korean War (1950-1953), and lagged 10 to 15 years behind women for decades. While women still have a longer life expectancy, the gap has been increasingly getting smaller, down to a difference of around six years in the 2020s. By the year 2100, it is estimated that life expectancy at birth for Korean women will have risen to 96 years, while their male counterparts are expected to reach 90.2 years old.

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

In the observed period, the average life expectancy increased in Poland. The average life expectancy for women in 2023 was ** years. For comparison, in 1950, women lived ** years shorter on average. Statistically, women live longer than men in Poland.

Portugal life expectancy for 2025 is 82.95, a 0.18% increase from 2024.

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

<li>Portugal life expectancy for 2024 was <strong>82.80</strong>, a <strong>0.63% increase</strong> from 2023.</li>
<li>Portugal life expectancy for 2023 was <strong>82.28</strong>, a <strong>0.79% increase</strong> from 2022.</li>
<li>Portugal life expectancy for 2022 was <strong>81.63</strong>, a <strong>0.31% 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.

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.

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

Life expectancy at birth and at age 65, by sex, on a three-year average basis.

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