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 short compilation of health-related lifestyles and employment indicators, including healthy life expectancy for England's upper tier local authorities.

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.

As of 2023, the countries with the highest life expectancy included Liechtenstein, Switzerland, and Japan. In Japan, a person could expect to live up to around ** years. In general, the life expectancy for females is higher than that of males, with lifestyle choices and genetics the two major determining factors of life expectancy. Life expectancy worldwide The overall life expectancy worldwide has increased since the development of modern medicine and technology. In 2011, the global life expectancy was **** years. By 2023, it had increased to **** years. However, the years 2020 and 2021 saw a decline in global life expectancy due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, not every country has seen a substantial increase in life expectancy. In Nigeria, for example, the life expectancy is only ** years, almost ***years shorter than the global average. In addition to Nigeria, the countries with the shortest life expectancy include Chad, Lesotho, and the Central African Republic. Life expectancy in the U.S. In the United States, life expectancy at birth is currently ***** years. Life expectancy in the U.S. generally increases every year, however, over the past decade, life expectancy has seen some surprising decreases. The major contributing factors to this drop have been the ongoing opioid epidemic, which claimed around ****** lives in 2022 alone, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

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.

Sunshine, Mediterranean diet, and a sociable lifestyle must be the secret to living a long life, because Spain’s life expectancy ranked as one of the highest on the planet according to the most recent studies. The Mediterranean country managed to increase its average life expectancy by approximately two years in the last decade, standing at 83.77 years old as of 2023. Regions full of life: developed Asia and the Latin Arch There seems to be a pattern as to where in the world people’s lives tend to be longer. As can be seen in the most recent data, Japan topped the list of the countries with the longest life expectancy at 84 years old. Other developed Asian countries can be found on this list, Republic of Korea with a life expectancy of approximately 83 years old and Singapore with 83 years old. Similarly, along with Spain, France, and Italy both featured a very high life expectancy. The latest studies show that people that were born in these Mediterranean countries had an expected life length of roughly 83 years at birth. Ageing: a common problem across the continent Data related to age in Spain essentially behave in a similar fashion as the rest of its European counterparts, whose population is also slowly but surely getting older. This will not come as a surprise since Spain has one of the highest life expectancies at birth in the world and one of the lowest European fertility rate, which stood at 1.29 children per woman according to the latest reports.

This table provides an overview of the key figures on health and care available on StatLine. All figures are taken from other tables on StatLine, either directly or through a simple conversion. In the original tables, breakdowns by characteristics of individuals or other variables are possible. The period after the year of review before data become available differs between the data series. The number of exam passes/graduates in year t is the number of persons who obtained a diploma in school/study year starting in t-1 and ending in t.

Data available from: 2001

Status of the figures:

2024: Most available figures are definite. Figures are provisional for: - causes of death; - youth care; - persons employed in health and welfare; - persons employed in healthcare; - Mbo health care graduates; - Hbo nursing graduates / medicine graduates (university).

2023: Most available figures are definite. Figures are provisional for: - perinatal mortality at pregnancy duration at least 24 weeks; - diagnoses known to the general practitioner; - hospital admissions by some diagnoses; - average period of hospitalisation; - supplied drugs; - AWBZ/Wlz-funded long term care; - physicians and nurses employed in care; - persons employed in health and welfare; - average distance to facilities; - profitability and operating results at institutions. Figures are revised provisional for: - expenditures on health and welfare.

2022: Most available figures are definite. Figures are revised provisional for: - expenditures on health and welfare.

2021: Most available figures are definite, Figures are revised provisional for: - expenditures on health and welfare.f

2020 and earlier: All available figures are definite.

Changes as of 4 July 2025: More recent figures have been added for: - causes of death; - life expectancy; - life expectancy in perceived good health; - self-perceived health; - hospital admissions by some diagnoses; - sickness absence; - average period of hospitalisation; - contacts with health professionals; - youth care; - smoking, heavy drinkers, physical activity; - overweight; - high blood pressure; - physicians and nurses employed in care; - persons employed in health and welfare; - persons employed in healthcare; - Mbo health care graduates; - Hbo nursing graduates / medicine graduates (university); - expenditures on health and welfare; - profitability and operating results at institutions.

Changes as of 18 december 2024: - Distance to facilities: the figures withdrawn on 5 June have been replaced (unchanged). - Youth care: the previously published final results for 2021 and 2022 have been adjusted due to improvements in the processing. - Due to a revision of the statistics Expenditure on health and welfare 2021, figures for expenditure on health and welfare care have been replaced from 2021 onwards. - Due to the revision of the National Accounts, the figures on persons employed in health and welfare have been replaced for all years. - AWBZ/Wlz-funded long term care: from 2015, the series Wlz residential care including total package at home has been replaced by total Wlz care. This series fits better with the chosen demarcation of indications for Wlz care.

When will new figures be published? New figures will be published in December 2025.

Access to healthcare, lifestyle, diet, and exercise are some of the determining factors considering life expectancy. In 2023, men and women had the highest life expectancy at birth in Budapest, the capital of Hungary, measuring at almost 75 years for men, while women at **** years, respectively. During the same year, the life expectancy for both men and women was the lowest in the county of Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén. Are Hungarians in good health? According to the Hungarian Central Statistical Office, in 2021, ** percent of men and ** percent of women perceived their state of health as good or very good, which represented an increase compared to the preceding period. However, considering their body mass index (BMI), over a third of the country’s adult population qualified as overweight and every fourth person as obese. In addition to weight problems, the country also recorded a considerable number of alcoholics over the past decade with their number totaling *** individuals as of 2020. Chronic diseases As of 2023, ** percent of Hungarian men and ** percent of women suffered from chronic diseases while the number of chronically ill people in the country totaled *** million. Malignant neoplasms, in other words cancerous tumors became the leading cause of death over the past years, accounting for ** thousand deaths in 2023. In the same year, prostate cancer accounted for a considerable share of new cancer cases in men while a significant number of newly diagnosed women patients suffered from breast cancer.

In 1970, life expectancy at birth in the Soviet Union and United States was fairly similar, at 69.3 and 70.8 years respectively; a difference of 1.5 years. As the decades progressed, however, this difference widened. While improvements in the recording of such statistics in the Soviet Union gave a more reliable picture of life expectancy across the region, especially in Central Asia and rural areas, the largest influence was due to the side-effects of deteriorating economic conditions. As lifestyles and medical care in the U.S. steadily improved, the decline in life expectancy the USSR was largely due to preventable causes, particularly alcoholism and accidental deaths among the male population. By 1985, life expectancy in the U.S. was 6.3 years higher than in the Soviet Union.

When looking at each gender, life expectancy among women in the U.S. in 1985 was seven years higher than men, whereas there was a difference of almost 10 years in the USSR. Women in the U.S. could also expect to live for five years longer than their Soviet counterparts in this year, while life expectancy among men in the U.S. was eight years higher than in the USSR. Overall, the gap between the two countries narrowed in the late 1980s as the Soviet Union's existence came to an end, however, this gap then grew even larger throughout most of the 1990s and early-2000s, and the post-Soviet states continue to deal with the social and economic legacy of Soviet dissolution on their respective demographics thirty years later.

Life expectancy (from birth) in Mexico was below thirty until the 1920s, and over the course of the next hundred years, it is expected to have increased to roughly 75 in the year 2020. Although life expectancy has generally increased throughout Mexico's history, there were several times where the rate deviated from its previous trajectory. The main change coincided with the Mexican Revolution in the 1910s, and again in the early 2000s. Life expectancy has plateaued around 75 in the last fifteen years, and is now decreasing, because of unhealthy lifestyles, violent crime and an increase in the number of people with chronic illnesses (such as diabetes).

The distribution of sociodemographic characteristics and lifestyle factors of study participants (n = 298).

The prevalence of hyperuricemia in relation to sociodemographic, clinical, and lifestyle factors among participants with cardiovascular diseases (n = 298).

Canada's rapidly changing demographic profile, along with its accompanying social and economic issues, has led to much discussion concerning the relationship between work, lifestyle and well-being. Gauging the quality of life at work can help diagnose issues relating to productivity, morale, efficiency and equity. Charting patterns of home and leisure activities can take the temperature of Canadian culture. Bringing these two together will provide insight on the health and well-being of Canadians as they meet the challenges of the future. The General Social Survey Program's new cycle,Canadians at Work and Home, takes a comprehensive look at the way Canadians live by incorporating the realms of work, home, leisure, and overall well-being into a single unit. Data users have expressed a strong interest in knowing more about the lifestyle behaviour of Canadians that impact their health and well-being both in the workplace and at home. The strength of this survey is its ability to take diverse information Canadians provide on various facets of life and combine them in ways not previously possible with surveys that covered one main topic only. The survey includes a multitude of themes. In the work sphere, it explores important topics such as work ethic, work intensity and distribution, compensation and employment benefits, work satisfaction and meaning, intercultural workplace relations, and bullying and harassment. On the home front, questions include family activity time, the division of labour and work-life balance. The survey also covers eating habits and nutritional awareness, the use of technology, sports and outdoor activities, and involvement in cultural activities. New-to-GSS questions on purpose in life, opportunities, life aspirations, outlook and resilience complement previously asked ones on subjective well-being, stress management and other socioeconomic variables. Within Canada, all levels of government, academics and not-for-profit organizations have expressed interest in the results. Data from this survey will assist with program and policy decisions and research of all kinds interested in exploring the workplace, home life and leisure activities of Canadians from all areas of life. In addition, some of the data from this survey will be comparable internationally.

In 2021, among the cancer inpatients discharged from hospitals in China, more than **** in **** were above the age of **, while around ** percent of inpatients were over 60 years old. The prevalence of most cancers increases with age, with longer life expectancy and lifestyle changes, cancer has become a substantial challenge to China's public healthcare system and one of the main causes of death among the Chinese population.

Statistics Canada has conducted smoking surveys on an ad hoc basis on behalf of Health Canada since the 1960s. These surveys have been done as supplements to the Canadian Labour Force Survey and as Random Digit Dialling telephone surveys. In February 1994, a change in legislation was passed which allowed a reduction in cigarette taxes. Since there was no survey data from immediately before this legislative change took place, it was difficult for Health Canada or other interested analysts to measure exactly the impact of the change. As Health Canada wants to be able to monitor the consequences of legislative changes and anti-smoking policies on smoking behaviour, the Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey was designed to provide Health Canada and its partners/stakeholders with continual and reliable data on tobacco use and related issues. Since 1999, two CTUMS files have been released every year: a file with data collected from February to June and a file with the July to December data. Additionally, there is also a yearly summary. The survey is presented in three cycles: Cycle 1 - taken Feb-June 2002; Cycle 2 - taken July-Dec 2002; and Cycle Annual - combining both time periods. Each cycle contains two files; household data, and person data. The primary objective of the survey is to provide a continuous supply of smoking prevalence data against which changes in prevalence can be monitored. This objective differs from that of the National Population Health Survey (NPHS) which collects smoking data from a longitudinal sample to measure which individuals are changing their smoking behaviour, the possible factors which contribute to change, and the possible risk factors related to starting smoking and smoking duration. Because the NPHS collects data every two years and releases the data about a year after completing the collection cycle, it does not meet Health Canada’s need for continuous coverage in time, rapid delivery of data, or sufficient detail of the most at-risk populations, namely 15-24 year olds. The Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey allows Health Canada to look at smoking prevalence by province-sex-age group, for age groups 15-19, 20-24, 25-34, 35-44 and 45+ on a semi-annual basis. The data included in these files represent data collected for the first six months of 2002. Data will continue to be collected on an on-going basis depending on availability of funds.