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.

Mean, median and modal ages at death in the UK and its constituent countries, 2001 to 2003 and 2016 to 2018.

Provisional deaths registration data for single year of age and average age of death (median and mean) of persons whose death involved coronavirus (COVID-19), England and Wales. Includes deaths due to COVID-19 and breakdowns by sex.

In 2023, the age-specific death rate for men aged 90 or over in England and Wales was 248.1 per one thousand population, and 215.1 for women. Except for infants that were under the age of one, younger age groups had the lowest death rate, with the death rate getting progressively higher in older age groups.

South Korea Probability of Dying at Age 10-14 Years: per 1000 data was reported at 0.400 Ratio in 2019. This stayed constant from the previous number of 0.400 Ratio for 2018. South Korea Probability of Dying at Age 10-14 Years: per 1000 data is updated yearly, averaging 0.750 Ratio from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2019, with 30 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1.900 Ratio in 1990 and a record low of 0.400 Ratio in 2019. South Korea Probability of Dying at Age 10-14 Years: per 1000 data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s South Korea – Table KR.World Bank.WDI: Health Statistics. Probability of dying between age 10-14 years of age expressed per 1,000 adolescents age 10, if subject to age-specific mortality rates of the specified year.; ; Estimates developed by the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UNICEF, WHO, World Bank, UN DESA Population Division) at www.childmortality.org.; Weighted average; Aggregate data for LIC, UMC, LMC, HIC are computed based on the groupings for the World Bank fiscal year in which the data was released by the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation.

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

Mortality from lung cancer (ICD-10 C33-C34 equivalent to ICD-9 162). To reduce deaths from lung cancer. Legacy unique identifier: P00508

In 2021, there were around 42.2 deaths from suicide per 100,000 population among males in the U.S. aged 75 years and older. Males aged 75 years and older were more likely to die from suicide than any other age group for both males and females. The suicide death rate for males in general is constantly greater than that for females. Suicide method by gender Not only do suicide rates differ by gender, but the method of suicide varies as well. Suicide by firearm accounts for 56 percent of suicides among males, but only 31 percent of those among females. However, suicide by poisoning accounts for a much larger share of suicides among females than males. In 2019, there were a total of 23,941 firearm suicides and 6,125 poisoning suicides. Substance abuse, mental health, and suicide Those who suffer from substance abuse and certain mental health disorders are at a much greater risk of falling victim to suicide. It’s been found that around 14 percent of those with drug or alcohol dependence or abuse had serious thoughts of suicide in the past year, compared to just three percent of those with no such substance dependence of abuse. Similarly, around 3.6 percent of those with a major depressive episode in the past year had attempted suicide, while only 0.2 percent of those without a major depressive episode had done so.

Mortality from malignant melanoma (ICD-10 C43 equivalent to ICD-9 172). To reduce deaths from malignant melanoma. Legacy unique identifier: P00644

This dataset as reported to the Rural Payments Agency contains slaughterhouse deaths, non cancelled animals, non cancelled movements, animals 30 months or under at time of death. Attribution statement:

Mortality from diabetes (ICD-10 E10-E14 equivalent to ICD-9 250). To reduce deaths from diabetes. Legacy unique identifier: P00299

Infant deaths have decreased annually in Germany during the timeline presented, with 2,189 recorded in 2023. There were 3.1 deaths per 1,000 live births that year.

Nigeria NG: Probability of Dying at Age 5-9 Years: per 1000 data was reported at 13.400 Ratio in 2019. This records a decrease from the previous number of 13.700 Ratio for 2018. Nigeria NG: Probability of Dying at Age 5-9 Years: per 1000 data is updated yearly, averaging 18.600 Ratio from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2019, with 30 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 25.600 Ratio in 1990 and a record low of 13.400 Ratio in 2019. Nigeria NG: Probability of Dying at Age 5-9 Years: per 1000 data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Nigeria – Table NG.World Bank.WDI: Health Statistics. Probability of dying between age 5-9 years of age expressed per 1,000 children aged 5, if subject to age-specific mortality rates of the specified year.; ; Estimates developed by the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UNICEF, WHO, World Bank, UN DESA Population Division) at www.childmortality.org.; Weighted average; Aggregate data for LIC, UMC, LMC, HIC are computed based on the groupings for the World Bank fiscal year in which the data was released by the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation.

Mortality from accidents (ICD-10 V01-X59 equivalent to ICD-9 E800-E928 excluding E870-E879). To reduce deaths from accidents. Legacy unique identifier: P00048

Canada CA: Mortality Rate: Infant: per 1000 Live Births data was reported at 4.300 Ratio in 2022. This records a decrease from the previous number of 4.400 Ratio for 2021. Canada CA: Mortality Rate: Infant: per 1000 Live Births data is updated yearly, averaging 6.600 Ratio from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2022, with 63 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 27.800 Ratio in 1960 and a record low of 4.300 Ratio in 2022. Canada CA: Mortality Rate: Infant: per 1000 Live Births data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Canada – Table CA.World Bank.WDI: Social: Health Statistics. Infant mortality rate is the number of infants dying before reaching one year of age, per 1,000 live births in a given year.;Estimates developed by the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UNICEF, WHO, World Bank, UN DESA Population Division) at www.childmortality.org.;Weighted average;Given that data on the incidence and prevalence of diseases are frequently unavailable, mortality rates are often used to identify vulnerable populations. Moreover, they are among the indicators most frequently used to compare socioeconomic development across countries. Under-five mortality rates are higher for boys than for girls in countries in which parental gender preferences are insignificant. Under-five mortality captures the effect of gender discrimination better than infant mortality does, as malnutrition and medical interventions have more significant impacts to this age group. Where female under-five mortality is higher, girls are likely to have less access to resources than boys. Aggregate data for LIC, UMC, LMC, HIC are computed based on the groupings for the World Bank fiscal year in which the data was released by the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation.

Mortality from stroke (ICD-10 I60-I69, equivalent to ICD-9 430-438). To reduce deaths from stroke. Legacy unique identifier: P00674

Average age at death by sex. Canary Islands and years.

Annual data on death registrations by single year of age for the UK (1974 onwards) and England and Wales (1963 onwards).

This scatter chart displays median age (year) against death rate (per 1,000 people) and is filtered where the country is Burkina Faso. The data is about countries per year.

This dataset contains counts of deaths for California as a whole based on information entered on death certificates. Final counts are derived from static data and include out-of-state deaths to California residents, whereas provisional counts are derived from incomplete and dynamic data. Provisional counts are based on the records available when the data was retrieved and may not represent all deaths that occurred during the time period. Deaths involving injuries from external or environmental forces, such as accidents, homicide and suicide, often require additional investigation that tends to delay certification of the cause and manner of death. This can result in significant under-reporting of these deaths in provisional data.

The final data tables include both deaths that occurred in California regardless of the place of residence (by occurrence) and deaths to California residents (by residence), whereas the provisional data table only includes deaths that occurred in California regardless of the place of residence (by occurrence). The data are reported as totals, as well as stratified by age, gender, race-ethnicity, and death place type. Deaths due to all causes (ALL) and selected underlying cause of death categories are provided. See temporal coverage for more information on which combinations are available for which years.

The cause of death categories are based solely on the underlying cause of death as coded by the International Classification of Diseases. The underlying cause of death is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as "the disease or injury which initiated the train of events leading directly to death, or the circumstances of the accident or violence which produced the fatal injury." It is a single value assigned to each death based on the details as entered on the death certificate. When more than one cause is listed, the order in which they are listed can affect which cause is coded as the underlying cause. This means that similar events could be coded with different underlying causes of death depending on variations in how they were entered. Consequently, while underlying cause of death provides a convenient comparison between cause of death categories, it may not capture the full impact of each cause of death as it does not always take into account all conditions contributing to the death.