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.

This dataset provides estimates of life expectancy at birth and at 65 years of age and 95% uncertainty interval estimates by location, male, female and both sexes combined, 1970, 1975, 1980, 1985, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, 2010, 2016. This age-specific mortality dataset is used to enable health systems to target interventions for the older adult populations.

In India, life expectancy at the time of birth increased by 22 years between 1970 and 2019. This statistic shows the increase of the average life expectancy at birth in selected countries between 1970 and 2019.

In 1970, women born in the U.S. could expect to live for 1.3 years more than women in the Soviet Union, and men in the U.S. could expect to live for 2.7 years longer than their Soviet counterparts. U.S. figures would steadily increase over the following decade, whereas the economic decline of the Soviet Union would see life expectancy fall by two years for men and 0.8 years for women. In 1980, the difference in life expectancy from birth between the two countries was 7.5 years for men, and 4.8 years for women. This difference has largely been attributed to an increase in alcohol and substance abuse and accidental deaths among males in the Soviet Union, as well as more accurate reporting methods in the Soviet Union (suggesting that early figures may no be fully representational). Although Soviet life expectancy did increase in the 1980s, the gap between life expectancy there and in the U.S. remained significantly larger than in 1970, and this trend continued well into the 1990s and early-2000s as the post-Soviet states adjusted to the socio-economic impact of the Union's dissolution.

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 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.

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 ...).

Life Expectancy at Birth: Male: Mexico City data was reported at 73.360 Year in 2018. This records an increase from the previous number of 73.260 Year for 2017. Life Expectancy at Birth: Male: Mexico City data is updated yearly, averaging 69.380 Year from Dec 1970 (Median) to 2018, with 49 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 73.360 Year in 2018 and a record low of 60.790 Year in 1970. Life Expectancy at Birth: Male: Mexico City data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by National Population Council. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Mexico – Table MX.G006: Life Expectancy at Birth: by State.

As of 2023, the countries with the highest life expectancy included Switzerland, Japan, and Spain. As of that time, a new-born child in Switzerland could expect to live an average of **** years. Around the world, females consistently have a higher average life expectancy than males, with females in Europe expected to live an average of *** years longer than males on this continent. Increases in life expectancy The overall average life expectancy in OECD countries increased by **** years from 1970 to 2019. The countries that saw the largest increases included Turkey, India, and South Korea. The life expectancy at birth in Turkey increased an astonishing 24.4 years over this period. The countries with the lowest life expectancy worldwide as of 2022 were Chad, Lesotho, and Nigeria, where a newborn could be expected to live an average of ** years. Life expectancy in the U.S. The life expectancy in the United States was ***** years as of 2023. Shockingly, the life expectancy in the United States has decreased in recent years, while it continues to increase in other similarly developed countries. The COVID-19 pandemic and increasing rates of suicide and drug overdose deaths from the opioid epidemic have been cited as reasons for this decrease.

Life Expectancy at Birth: Mexico City data was reported at 76.325 Year in 2018. This records an increase from the previous number of 76.220 Year for 2017. Life Expectancy at Birth: Mexico City data is updated yearly, averaging 72.400 Year from Dec 1970 (Median) to 2018, with 49 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 76.385 Year in 2013 and a record low of 62.130 Year in 1970. Life Expectancy at Birth: Mexico City data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by National Population Council. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Mexico – Table MX.G006: Life Expectancy at Birth: by State.

Mexico Life Expectancy at Birth: Male: Jalisco data was reported at 72.260 Year in 2018. This records an increase from the previous number of 72.140 Year for 2017. Mexico Life Expectancy at Birth: Male: Jalisco data is updated yearly, averaging 70.140 Year from Dec 1970 (Median) to 2018, with 49 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 73.120 Year in 2006 and a record low of 58.450 Year in 1970. Mexico Life Expectancy at Birth: Male: Jalisco data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by National Population Council. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Mexico – Table MX.G006: Life Expectancy at Birth: by State.

Mexico Life Expectancy at Birth: Baja California Sur data was reported at 75.805 Year in 2018. This records an increase from the previous number of 75.690 Year for 2017. Mexico Life Expectancy at Birth: Baja California Sur data is updated yearly, averaging 72.640 Year from Dec 1970 (Median) to 2018, with 49 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 75.980 Year in 2006 and a record low of 57.840 Year in 1970. Mexico Life Expectancy at Birth: Baja California Sur data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by National Population Council. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Mexico – Table MX.G006: Life Expectancy at Birth: by State.

Mexico Life Expectancy at Birth: Male: Guerrero data was reported at 69.980 Year in 2018. This records an increase from the previous number of 69.830 Year for 2017. Mexico Life Expectancy at Birth: Male: Guerrero data is updated yearly, averaging 69.270 Year from Dec 1970 (Median) to 2018, with 49 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 72.650 Year in 2006 and a record low of 58.030 Year in 1970. Mexico Life Expectancy at Birth: Male: Guerrero data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by National Population Council. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Mexico – Table MX.G006: Life Expectancy at Birth: by State.

In 2023, the average life expectancy at birth in South Korea was 83.5 years. This represents an increase compared to the previous year. Life expectancy has increased steadily since 2008, when it was 80.2 years. Overall, women show higher life expectancies than men, a difference of around six years.

Mexico Life Expectancy at Birth: Male: Chiapas data was reported at 71.380 Year in 2018. This records an increase from the previous number of 71.260 Year for 2017. Mexico Life Expectancy at Birth: Male: Chiapas data is updated yearly, averaging 69.530 Year from Dec 1970 (Median) to 2018, with 49 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 72.650 Year in 2006 and a record low of 54.630 Year in 1970. Mexico Life Expectancy at Birth: Male: Chiapas data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by National Population Council. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Mexico – Table MX.G006: Life Expectancy at Birth: by State.

Mexico Life Expectancy at Birth: Male: Colima data was reported at 72.970 Year in 2018. This records an increase from the previous number of 72.830 Year for 2017. Mexico Life Expectancy at Birth: Male: Colima data is updated yearly, averaging 69.650 Year from Dec 1970 (Median) to 2018, with 49 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 73.360 Year in 2006 and a record low of 58.620 Year in 1970. Mexico Life Expectancy at Birth: Male: Colima data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by National Population Council. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Mexico – Table MX.G006: Life Expectancy at Birth: by State.

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.

🇸🇪 스웨덴

Mexico Life Expectancy at Birth: Male: Aguascalientes data was reported at 72.750 Year in 2018. This records an increase from the previous number of 72.660 Year for 2017. Mexico Life Expectancy at Birth: Male: Aguascalientes data is updated yearly, averaging 70.980 Year from Dec 1970 (Median) to 2018, with 49 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 73.810 Year in 2004 and a record low of 61.220 Year in 1970. Mexico Life Expectancy at Birth: Male: Aguascalientes data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by National Population Council. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Mexico – Table MX.G006: Life Expectancy at Birth: by State.

Further information about the BCS70 and may be found on the Centre for Longitudinal Studies website. As well as BCS70, the CLS now also conducts the NCDS series.

1970 British Cohort Study: Age 10, Sweep 3 Special Needs Survey, 1980

One particular concern on the educational side of the BCS70 Sweep 3 (see SN 3723), when respondents were aged 10 years, was to gather information on educational attainment on children who were unlikely to be able to complete the educational attainment tests administered at ten years. Teachers were given the option of electing to ask for a Special Educational Pack with easier tests for any child for whom they considered the standard testing too hard. The other criteria for selecting children for the receipt of Special Educational Packs included children who had completed the ordinary pack but had scored in the bottom 5 per cent on the Edinburgh Reading Test and/or the Friendly Maths Test. All children receiving Special Educational Treatment (SET) were also sent a Special Educational Pack. Each Special Educational Pack contained the standard educational test material which teachers were asked to try with the child in order to know where the child fitted within the lower end of the distributions of the standard pack test scores.

Survey instrumentation for Sweep 3 was distributed through education and health authorities. The Special Needs Tests were included in the materials distributed through Local Education Authorities and, where parental consent was obtained, administered to cohort members in school with the assistance of teachers.

For the second edition (June 2016) a small number of primary identifiers (BCSID) have been changed to realign them to previous sweeps of data. See the documentation for full details of the work done.