Life expectancy by country

Monaco has the highest life expectancy at birth in this country comparison: 86.5 years in 2024. Explore the full distribution, differences between women and men, and how each country’s figure has changed since 2000.

2024 observations · Historical series 2000–2024 · Reviewed 1 October 2026 · Sources & methodology

86.5 yearsMonaco · highest in this comparison

54.6 yearsNigeria · lowest in this comparison

31.9 yearsGap between the two country averages

A snapshot of mortality, not a personal prediction

Life expectancy at birth asks how long a hypothetical newborn would live if the age-specific death rates observed in a particular year applied throughout that person’s life. It summarizes current mortality conditions. It does not predict the exact lifespan of babies born that year, whose future healthcare and living conditions may change.

It is also different from the average age of people who died that year. That average depends strongly on a population’s age structure. Life expectancy is constructed from a life table so that national mortality patterns can be compared more meaningfully.

At birth is not at your current age. Someone who has already survived childhood has a different remaining-life calculation. Subtracting your age from the number on this page does not estimate your remaining lifespan.

Compare total, female and male life expectancy

The spread between Monaco at 86.5 years and Nigeria at 54.6 years is 31.9 years in this snapshot. Across the 194 country observations, 40 reach at least 80 years, while 27 are below 65. Those counts describe countries, not the proportions of the world’s people in each band.

Several small European states appear near the top, but Japan and other much more populous countries also have high values. Comparing only the first few positions can exaggerate differences that amount to a fraction of a year. The absolute values are more useful than rank alone when entries are close.

The female-minus-male column gives a second dimension. A country can have relatively high total life expectancy while still showing a substantial gap between the two series. The difference is calculated in years, not as the percentage of women or men who reach a particular age. Neither the country ranking nor the sex difference identifies a single causal explanation; that would need evidence on mortality by age and cause.

The first column determines the base rank. Sort “Change since 2000” to explore improvement instead of the current level, or sort the female–male gap to compare differences within countries. A high level and a large improvement are separate achievements.

194 countries. Scroll the table for all entries. Base rank follows the page’s main measure; sorting another column keeps that rank.

2024 life expectancy at birth. Changes and gaps are measured in years.
Base rank
1	Monaco	86.50	88.63	84.56	4.38	4.07
2	San Marino	85.82	87.22	84.32	5.31	2.90
3	Kuwait	84.58	85.40	83.80	8.35	1.60
4	Switzerland	84.41	86.20	82.70	4.73	3.50
5	Liechtenstein	84.20	86.30	82.20	7.37	4.10
6	Andorra	84.19	86.24	82.26	2.33	3.98
7	Sweden	84.06	85.60	82.60	4.42	3.00
8	Japan	84.04	87.13	81.09	2.96	6.04
9	Italy	83.95	86.00	82.00	4.17	4.00
10	Spain	83.89	86.50	81.40	4.92	5.10
11	South Korea	83.63	86.60	80.80	7.72	5.80
12	Singapore	83.35	85.60	81.20	5.40	4.40
13	Israel	83.20	85.40	81.10	4.24	4.30
14	Luxembourg	83.20	85.50	81.00	5.32	4.50
15	Norway	83.16	84.80	81.60	4.53	3.20
16	United Arab Emirates	83.07	84.32	82.17	6.72	2.15
17	Australia	83.05	85.10	81.10	3.82	4.00
18	Ireland	83.01	84.70	81.40	6.47	3.30
19	France	82.98	85.90	80.20	3.92	5.70
20	Malta	82.96	84.80	81.20	4.61	3.60
21	Iceland	82.81	84.50	81.20	3.16	3.30
22	Qatar	82.52	83.48	81.78	7.27	1.70
23	Portugal	82.38	85.20	79.70	6.07	5.50
24	Finland	82.34	85.00	79.80	4.87	5.20
25	Belgium	82.30	84.40	80.30	4.58	4.10
26	Slovenia	82.29	85.00	79.70	6.87	5.30
27	Denmark	82.25	84.20	80.40	5.66	3.80
28	Canada	82.11	84.29	80.03	2.94	4.26
29	New Zealand	82.01	83.70	80.40	3.37	3.30
30	Austria	82.00	84.30	79.80	3.87	4.50
31	Netherlands	81.97	83.40	80.60	3.98	2.80
32	Greece	81.84	84.40	79.40	3.95	5.00
33	Cyprus	81.82	83.80	79.84	3.92	3.96
34	Bahrain	81.42	82.13	80.86	6.75	1.27
35	United Kingdom	81.39	83.33	79.54	3.65	3.78
36	Chile	81.36	83.23	79.45	4.23	3.77
37	Maldives	81.29	83.00	79.95	10.39	3.05
38	Costa Rica	81.00	83.58	78.37	3.68	5.21
39	Germany	80.79	83.20	78.50	2.87	4.70
40	Oman	80.25	82.05	78.72	6.60	3.33
41	Czech Republic	79.98	83.00	77.10	5.01	5.90
42	Albania	79.78	81.59	77.92	4.95	3.67
43	Panama	79.78	82.71	76.88	6.33	5.83
44	Estonia	79.30	83.70	75.10	8.88	8.60
45	Saudi Arabia	78.98	81.33	77.33	6.38	4.00
46	Croatia	78.93	81.90	76.10	6.12	5.80
47	United States	78.89	81.40	76.50	2.25	4.90
48	Poland	78.41	82.20	74.80	4.66	7.40
49	Slovakia	78.37	81.70	75.20	5.32	6.50
50	Armenia	78.32	81.70	75.10	5.44	6.60
51	Uruguay	78.29	82.04	74.38	3.59	7.66
52	Cuba	78.26	80.68	75.86	2.34	4.82
53	Bosnia and Herzegovina	78.04	81.07	74.65	2.75	6.42
54	China	78.02	80.97	75.25	5.73	5.72
55	Jordan	77.98	80.34	75.89	6.05	4.44
56	Lebanon	77.95	79.86	75.88	4.05	3.98
57	Peru	77.94	80.30	75.63	8.12	4.67
58	Colombia	77.91	80.61	75.16	7.01	5.45
59	Montenegro	77.89	80.40	75.50	4.49	4.90
60	Iran	77.85	79.81	76.00	7.69	3.81
61	Antigua and Barbuda	77.77	80.45	74.74	2.95	5.70
62	Sri Lanka	77.67	80.75	74.45	6.49	6.30
63	Ecuador	77.58	80.31	74.88	5.49	5.43
64	Argentina	77.54	80.02	74.98	3.63	5.04
65	Turkey	77.42	80.34	74.62	5.49	5.72
66	Lithuania	77.20	81.60	73.00	5.18	8.60
67	Malaysia	76.82	79.52	74.45	4.09	5.07
68	Hungary	76.72	79.90	73.70	5.48	6.20
69	Tunisia	76.71	79.33	74.13	4.11	5.20
70	North Macedonia	76.62	78.86	74.48	3.67	4.38
71	Thailand	76.56	80.98	72.34	5.36	8.64
72	Algeria	76.48	77.91	75.10	5.90	2.82
73	Romania	76.46	80.30	72.80	5.30	7.50
74	Latvia	76.43	81.50	71.60	6.11	9.90
75	Barbados	76.33	78.76	73.75	1.75	5.01
76	Seychelles	76.30	80.70	72.10	3.52	8.60
77	Cape Verde	76.22	79.37	73.05	8.11	6.32
78	Brazil	76.02	79.15	72.95	6.44	6.19
79	Serbia	75.97	78.35	73.70	4.39	4.65
80	Bulgaria	75.76	79.50	72.20	4.10	7.30
81	Brunei	75.50	77.73	73.49	1.48	4.24
82	Morocco	75.49	77.78	73.35	8.70	4.43
83	Grenada	75.37	78.50	72.52	2.41	5.98
84	Mexico	75.26	78.00	72.44	2.70	5.56
85	Nicaragua	75.10	77.58	72.46	8.74	5.11
86	Bangladesh	74.93	76.67	73.30	12.88	3.36
87	Vietnam	74.74	79.38	70.05	1.99	9.33
88	Bahamas	74.71	78.33	71.06	2.23	7.27
89	Ukraine	74.69	79.39	69.79	6.91	9.61
90	Georgia	74.66	79.23	69.75	4.57	9.49
91	Azerbaijan	74.58	77.29	71.71	9.20	5.58
92	Kazakhstan	74.53	78.52	70.27	10.74	8.25
93	Belarus	74.37	79.22	69.74	5.45	9.48
94	Paraguay	73.98	77.09	71.01	3.96	6.08
95	Dominican Republic	73.87	77.11	70.66	3.50	6.44
96	Mauritius	73.79	77.40	70.35	2.13	7.05
97	Suriname	73.76	76.98	70.60	9.35	6.38
98	North Korea	73.74	75.88	71.55	12.83	4.33
99	Belize	73.74	76.66	71.08	4.83	5.58
100	Trinidad and Tobago	73.62	76.83	70.51	4.99	6.32
101	Russia	73.44	78.88	68.26	7.96	10.62
102	Bhutan	73.26	75.27	71.57	11.42	3.70
103	Tonga	73.07	76.54	69.50	3.43	7.04
104	Honduras	73.04	75.67	70.49	4.74	5.18
105	Saint Lucia	72.85	76.45	69.45	2.07	7.00
106	Guatemala	72.75	75.04	70.44	5.64	4.60
107	Venezuela	72.67	76.66	68.89	0.28	7.77
108	Syria	72.56	74.92	70.21	1.70	4.71
109	Uzbekistan	72.53	75.55	69.56	7.07	5.98
110	Iraq	72.42	74.18	70.50	7.56	3.68
111	Kyrgyzstan	72.40	76.60	68.40	3.84	8.20
112	Mongolia	72.40	77.10	67.92	9.19	9.18
113	El Salvador	72.30	76.49	67.76	4.59	8.73
114	Saint Kitts and Nevis	72.28	76.16	68.69	3.03	7.47
115	India	72.24	73.86	70.73	9.49	3.13
116	Tajikistan	71.93	74.14	69.68	8.39	4.46
117	Samoa	71.83	73.82	69.96	1.03	3.86
118	Egypt	71.81	74.01	69.65	4.47	4.36
119	Vanuatu	71.65	74.11	69.59	3.07	4.53
120	Jamaica	71.61	74.15	69.08	0.32	5.07
121	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	71.38	74.48	68.78	1.03	5.69
122	Moldova	71.33	75.67	66.70	3.87	8.97
123	Dominica	71.29	74.72	68.35	-0.42	6.37
124	Indonesia	71.29	73.43	69.16	5.00	4.27
125	Libya	71.12	72.68	69.63	0.58	3.05
126	Cambodia	70.82	73.36	68.15	11.33	5.21
127	Solomon Islands	70.69	72.18	69.36	3.58	2.82
128	Nepal	70.64	72.14	69.09	7.99	3.05
129	Guyana	70.32	74.09	66.62	6.24	7.47
130	Turkmenistan	70.20	73.01	67.00	5.27	6.01
131	Philippines	69.95	72.96	66.99	2.16	5.97
132	Sao Tome and Principe	69.91	73.91	66.41	8.70	7.50
133	Yemen	69.44	71.55	67.37	6.68	4.18
134	Palau	69.38	71.94	67.25	4.88	4.69
135	Botswana	69.29	71.85	66.78	17.03	5.07
136	Laos	69.23	71.53	67.02	10.91	4.51
137	Palestine	69.21	74.25	65.22	-1.09	9.03
138	Senegal	68.92	71.01	67.01	11.31	4.01
139	Eritrea	68.89	70.94	66.76	12.61	4.19
140	Bolivia	68.74	71.32	66.27	6.68	5.06
141	Mauritania	68.71	70.73	66.70	7.67	4.03
142	Gabon	68.51	71.24	66.06	6.70	5.18
143	Uganda	68.49	71.37	65.49	18.85	5.88
144	Rwanda	68.02	70.14	65.71	20.22	4.43
145	Timor-Leste	67.90	69.67	66.27	9.81	3.41
146	Pakistan	67.80	70.32	65.46	5.90	4.86
147	Ethiopia	67.60	71.02	64.36	16.72	6.67
148	Malawi	67.56	70.77	64.27	21.39	6.50
149	Namibia	67.52	71.48	63.45	14.57	8.02
150	Fiji	67.46	69.54	65.47	1.27	4.07
151	Micronesia	67.36	71.28	63.63	3.04	7.65
152	Tuvalu	67.26	70.86	63.91	3.72	6.95
153	Tanzania	67.21	70.00	64.40	13.97	5.60
154	Myanmar	67.10	70.38	63.99	6.74	6.39
155	Marshall Islands	67.08	69.48	65.03	3.75	4.45
156	Comoros	67.02	69.20	65.02	8.08	4.18
157	Kiribati	66.60	68.32	64.69	1.93	3.64
158	Zambia	66.53	68.87	64.10	19.95	4.77
159	Sudan	66.52	69.83	63.45	7.58	6.38
160	South Africa	66.31	69.79	62.78	7.94	7.01
161	Afghanistan	66.29	67.81	64.70	11.28	3.11
162	Papua New Guinea	66.26	69.21	63.84	4.65	5.38
163	Djibouti	66.20	68.74	63.73	9.47	5.02
164	Gambia	66.06	67.75	64.35	9.16	3.40
165	Republic of the Congo	66.00	67.72	64.33	10.63	3.39
166	Ghana	65.70	68.16	63.31	7.56	4.85
167	Haiti	65.12	68.49	61.90	6.94	6.59
168	Angola	64.81	67.34	62.28	18.30	5.07
169	Eswatini	64.26	67.11	61.32	16.64	5.79
170	Guinea-Bissau	64.25	66.55	61.82	13.69	4.73
171	Cameroon	63.97	66.23	61.78	10.63	4.45
172	Equatorial Guinea	63.91	65.89	62.22	10.51	3.66
173	Madagascar	63.84	65.60	62.12	5.86	3.48
174	Kenya	63.83	66.12	61.64	7.75	4.48
175	Burundi	63.82	65.88	61.75	16.20	4.13
176	Mozambique	63.80	66.74	60.49	14.32	6.26
177	Zimbabwe	63.06	65.31	60.49	17.03	4.82
178	Togo	62.94	63.15	62.70	8.35	0.46
179	Liberia	62.32	63.63	61.02	10.47	2.61
180	Nauru	62.28	64.19	60.41	2.71	3.77
181	Ivory Coast	62.11	64.31	60.17	10.72	4.14
182	Democratic Republic of the Congo	62.07	64.23	59.96	10.19	4.27
183	Sierra Leone	61.96	63.70	60.23	17.13	3.47
184	Niger	61.43	62.41	60.49	12.26	1.92
185	Burkina Faso	61.29	63.43	59.11	10.48	4.32
186	Benin	60.96	62.42	59.52	4.37	2.90
187	Guinea	60.90	62.09	59.66	8.48	2.43
188	Mali	60.68	62.15	59.25	10.07	2.90
189	Somalia	58.97	61.55	56.49	8.22	5.06
190	Lesotho	57.80	60.44	55.03	9.02	5.41
191	South Sudan	57.74	60.75	54.76	10.15	5.99
192	Central African Republic	57.67	59.56	55.51	11.06	4.05
193	Chad	55.24	57.19	53.36	7.30	3.83
194	Nigeria	54.64	54.94	54.33	7.49	0.61

Download the complete data as CSV ↓

Read the trajectory, not only the finishing position

Two countries can arrive at similar life expectancy through different paths. A single rank hides setbacks and recoveries. Select a country to see annual observations; the vertical scale stays fixed so changing the selection does not exaggerate small changes.

How life expectancy has changed since 2000

Spain: 79.0 years in 2000 → 83.9 in 2024.

Read the annual figures

Year	Life expectancy (years)
2000	78.97
2001	79.37
2002	79.57
2003	79.62
2004	79.87
2005	80.17
2006	80.82
2007	80.87
2008	81.18
2009	81.48
2010	81.63
2011	82.48
2012	82.43
2013	83.08
2014	83.23
2015	82.83
2016	83.33
2017	83.28
2018	83.43
2019	83.83
2020	82.23
2021	83.18
2022	83.13
2023	83.93
2024	83.89

Fixed vertical scale: 0–100 years. A review note flags annual changes of 10 years or more; it does not assign a cause or declare an observation wrong. Missing years are omitted; lines connect available observations. Source: World Bank WDI, 2000–2024. Each point describes mortality conditions in that year.

Some historical source series contain exceptionally sharp annual changes. The chart flags changes of at least ten years for closer review and retains the published observations. For example, the World Bank API returns 14.665 years for the Central African Republic in 2009, between 49.873 in 2008 and 46.871 in 2010. We confirmed that retrieval against the country-specific API; this page does not claim to establish the cause or accuracy of that unusual movement.

Where the largest gains appear

Among countries with observations at both endpoints, Malawi has the largest increase in this snapshot: 21.4 years between 2000 and 2024. The following comparison is calculated from the same series as the main ranking.

Malawi

+21.4 years since 2000

46.2 → 67.6 years

Rwanda

+20.2 years since 2000

47.8 → 68.0 years

Zambia

+20.0 years since 2000

46.6 → 66.5 years

Uganda

+18.8 years since 2000

49.6 → 68.5 years

Angola

+18.3 years since 2000

46.5 → 64.8 years

Sierra Leone

+17.1 years since 2000

44.8 → 62.0 years

Why a gain needs context

A large increase can reflect recovery from a low baseline. It does not by itself identify the cause or show that every age group benefited equally. To explain a change, examine age-specific mortality, cause-of-death evidence and country history. This page reports the change without attributing it to one policy or behavior.

Why women’s and men’s figures differ

The table measures the difference; it cannot separate the contribution of biology, occupation, behavior, conflict, healthcare or social conditions. A large gap is a prompt for further investigation. It is not a claim that every woman lives longer than every man.

Why figures differ across publishers

Publishers may use national estimates, UN model estimates, different revisions or different reference years. Small populations can also produce volatile mortality rates. Treat differences of a few hundredths of a year with more caution than the display precision might suggest.

Does this measure healthy years?

No. Life expectancy includes years lived with illness or disability. Healthy life expectancy is a different indicator requiring additional information. Neither measure should be substituted for the other in a comparison of healthcare or quality of life.

Sources & methodology

We use World Bank country observations retrieved on 1 October 2026. All ranked totals and female/male observations describe 2024; historical changes subtract the 2000 total from the 2024 total. We retain the source’s published total instead of taking a simple average of female and male values. 194 of 196 profiles have a 2024 observation; Taiwan and Vatican City are outside this selected data coverage.

World Bank: life expectancy at birth, total
Annual country observations from 2000 to 2024, from UN demographic estimates, national statistical sources and other WDI contributors.
World Bank: female life expectancy
2024 observations. The difference from the male series is calculated in years, not percentages.
World Bank: male life expectancy
2024 observations, kept in their own column rather than averaged with female values to reconstruct the total.
Central African Republic: source check for 2008–2010
Independent country-specific retrieval confirms the unusually low 2009 value returned by the source. The trend tool flags sharp annual movements for review.
World Bank indicator definition and methodology
Period life expectancy assumes that the reference year’s mortality conditions persist throughout life.

Country lists follow our 196-profile directory convention: 193 UN members, Vatican City, Palestine and Taiwan. Dependent territories are identified separately. A missing observation never means zero.