This statistic depicts the average life expectancy at birth worldwide in 1990 and 2013, by income group. In 1990, a child born in a high income household had an average life expectancy of 75 years, while a child born in a low income household was expected to live 53 years.

Graph and download economic data for Life Expectancy at Birth, Total for Low Income Countries (SPDYNLE00INLIC) from 1960 to 2023 about life expectancy, life, birth, and income.

Graph and download economic data for Life Expectancy at Birth, Total for Low and Middle Income Countries (SPDYNLE00INLMY) from 1960 to 2023 about life expectancy, life, birth, and income.

This dataset contains replication files for "The Association Between Income and Life Expectancy in the United States, 2001-2014" by Augustin Bergeron, Raj Chetty, David Cutler, Benjamin Scuderi, Michael Stepner, and Nicholas Turner. For more information, see https://opportunityinsights.org/paper/lifeexpectancy/. A summary of the related publication follows. How can we reduce socioeconomic disparities in health outcomes? Although it is well known that there are significant differences in health and longevity between income groups, debate remains about the magnitudes and determinants of these differences. We use new data from 1.4 billion anonymous earnings and mortality records to construct more precise estimates of the relationship between income and life expectancy at the national level than was feasible in prior work. We then construct new local area (county and metro area) estimates of life expectancy by income group and identify factors that are associated with higher levels of life expectancy for low-income individuals. Our findings show that disparities in life expectancy are not inevitable. There are cities throughout America — from New York to San Francisco to Birmingham, AL — where gaps in life expectancy are relatively small or are narrowing over time. Replicating these successes more broadly will require targeted local efforts, focusing on improving health behaviors among the poor in cities such as Las Vegas and Detroit. Our findings also imply that federal programs such as Social Security and Medicare are less redistributive than they might appear because low-income individuals obtain these benefits for significantly fewer years than high-income individuals, especially in cities like Detroit. Going forward, the challenge is to understand the mechanisms that lead to better health and longevity for low-income individuals in some parts of the U.S. To facilitate future research and monitor local progress, we have posted annual statistics on life expectancy by income group and geographic area (state, CZ, and county) at The Health Inequality Project website. Using these data, researchers will be able to study why certain places have high or improving levels of life expectancy and ultimately apply these lessons to reduce health disparities in other parts of the country.

National by-year life expectancy estimates for men and women, by income percentile

This table contains 1408 series, with data for years 2001 - 2001 (not all combinations necessarily have data for all years). This table contains data described by the following dimensions (Not all combinations are available): Geography (11 items: Canada; Newfoundland and Labrador; Nova Scotia; Prince Edward Island ...), Age group (2 items: At birth; At age 65 ...), Sex (2 items: Males; Females ...), Income group (4 items: All income groups; Income group; tercile 1 (lowest);Income group; tercile 3 (highest);Income group; tercile 2 (middle) ...), Characteristics (8 items: Health-adjusted life expectancy; Low 95% confidence interval; health-adjusted life expectancy; Coefficient of variation for health-adjusted life expectancy; High 95% confidence interval; health-adjusted life expectancy ...).

This statistic depicts the average life expectancy at the age of 60 worldwide in 1990 and 2013, by income group. In 2013, a person aged 60 from a high income household had a life expectancy of 23 more years, while a person of the same age from a low income household was expected to live 17 more years.

The average for 2023 based on 28 countries was 64.56 years. The highest value was in North Korea: 73.64 years and the lowest value was in Chad: 55.07 years. The indicator is available from 1960 to 2023. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

This table contains 2394 series, with data for years 1991 - 1991 (not all combinations necessarily have data for all years). This table contains data described by the following dimensions (Not all combinations are available): Geography (1 items: Canada ...), Population group (19 items: Entire cohort; Income adequacy quintile 1 (lowest);Income adequacy quintile 2;Income adequacy quintile 3 ...), Age (14 items: At 25 years; At 30 years; At 40 years; At 35 years ...), Sex (3 items: Both sexes; Females; Males ...), Characteristics (3 items: Life expectancy; High 95% confidence interval; life expectancy; Low 95% confidence interval; life expectancy ...).

United States - Life Expectancy at Birth, Total for Low Income Countries was 65.00667 Number of Years in January of 2023, according to the United States Federal Reserve. Historically, United States - Life Expectancy at Birth, Total for Low Income Countries reached a record high of 65.00667 in January of 2023 and a record low of 33.88184 in January of 1950. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for United States - Life Expectancy at Birth, Total for Low Income Countries - last updated from the United States Federal Reserve on September of 2025.

The average for 2022 based on 49 countries was 68.77 years. The highest value was in Sri Lanka: 77.3 years and the lowest value was in Nigeria: 54.08 years. The indicator is available from 1960 to 2022. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

This table presents three variants of healthy life expectancy: —Life expectancy in well-experienced health. —Life expectancy without reported physical impairments. —Life expectancy without reported chronic diseases. —Life expectancy in good mental health

In addition, data on mortality rates and overall life expectancy are presented. The total life expectancy indicates the number of years that a person of a certain age is expected to live.

In the table, the data on (healthy) life expectancy can be broken down into the following characteristics: —Sex —Age —Income

The standardised disposable household income granted to individuals has been used as an indicator of socio-economic status.

The figures in the publication refer to the average for the years 2004 to 2007, the average for the years 2007 to 2010, the average for the years 2011 to 2014 and the average for the years 2014 to 2017.

Data available from 2004/2007 to 2017.

Status of the figures: The figures in this table are final

Amendments as of 21 December 2022: None, this table has been discontinued.

When will there be new figures? No longer applicable. This table is followed by the Healthy Life Expectancy Table; income and prosperity. See paragraph 3.

Graph and download economic data for Life Expectancy at Birth, Total: All Income Levels for Europe and Central Asia (SPDYNLE00INECS) from 1960 to 2023 about Central Asia, life expectancy, life, birth, Europe, and income.

United States - Life Expectancy at Birth, Total for High Income Countries was 80.15000 Number of Years in January of 2023, according to the United States Federal Reserve. Historically, United States - Life Expectancy at Birth, Total for High Income Countries reached a record high of 80.88737 in January of 2019 and a record low of 68.55283 in January of 1960. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for United States - Life Expectancy at Birth, Total for High Income Countries - last updated from the United States Federal Reserve on September of 2025.

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.

United States - Life Expectancy at Birth, Total for Upper Middle Income Countries was 76.19481 Number of Years in January of 2023, according to the United States Federal Reserve. Historically, United States - Life Expectancy at Birth, Total for Upper Middle Income Countries reached a record high of 76.19481 in January of 2023 and a record low of 46.32320 in January of 1950. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for United States - Life Expectancy at Birth, Total for Upper Middle Income Countries - last updated from the United States Federal Reserve on September of 2025.

These tables contain life expectancy estimates by income and sex at the US state level.

This fileset contains the appendix and replication data for the paper entitled "The intimate link between income levels and life expectancy: Global evidence from 213 years" published in Social Science Quarterly by Michael Jetter, Sabine Laudage and David StadelmannAbstract: Objectives - What is the main driver of life expectancy across societies and over time? This study aims to document a systematic and quantitatively sizeable relationship between income levels and life expectancy. Method - Using different regression methods and robustness tests, a panel dataset of 197 countries over 213 years is analyzed. Results - By itself, GDP per capita explains more than 64 percent of the variation in life expectancy. The Preston curve prevails, even when accounting for country- and time-fixed effects, country-specific time trends, and alternative explanatory variables, such as health care expenditure, malaria prevalence, or political institutions. If anything, this link has become stronger over recent decades when data quality has improved. Results from instrumental variable estimations suggest this finding to be largely unaffected by reverse causality. Quantile regression results suggest the relationship between income and life expectancy to be persistent across different levels of life expectancy. Conclusions - Income matters for life expectancy. If policymakers want to prolong people's lives, economic growth appears to be the predominant medicine.

Life Expectancy at Birth, Total: All Income Levels for Latin America and Caribbean was 75.64353 Number of Years in January of 2023, according to the United States Federal Reserve. Historically, Life Expectancy at Birth, Total: All Income Levels for Latin America and Caribbean reached a record high of 75.64353 in January of 2023 and a record low of 50.73382 in January of 1950. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for Life Expectancy at Birth, Total: All Income Levels for Latin America and Caribbean - last updated from the United States Federal Reserve on July of 2025.

Life Expectancy at Birth, Total: All Income Levels for East Asia and Pacific was 76.65948 Number of Years in January of 2023, according to the United States Federal Reserve. Historically, Life Expectancy at Birth, Total: All Income Levels for East Asia and Pacific reached a record high of 76.67678 in January of 2022 and a record low of 45.17521 in January of 1950. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for Life Expectancy at Birth, Total: All Income Levels for East Asia and Pacific - last updated from the United States Federal Reserve on August of 2025.