How long do people live in each country?
UN estimates for 2023 run from 54.46 years in Nigeria to 86.37 years in Monaco; in the 45 countries where a second source counts, the counted figures, at most one year apart in time, differ by under one year in 42, and most in Cyprus (UN WPP 81.65 for 2023, Eurostat 83.50 for 2024).
years of life expectancy at birth
5060708090
Year varies by country (2023–2025) · grey: no figure
Latest figure for each country
Too small or not separate on this map: Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba, French Guiana, Gibraltar, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mayotte, Réunion, Tokelau, Tuvalu. Each colour is one figure per country: one year, not an average, for the year shown in the ranking and when you point at a country.With "How sure" on, hatching marks countries whose latest figure has a trust score below 60 (Low or Very low).
All countries
Each source's value links to its publisher; point at it for the source and year. A value in brackets is shown but doesn't count, and pointing at it says why. Retrieved 2026-11-02.
About this data
Every source on this page (5)
Who is behind the sources
- 100% International body
Each publisher, its funding and its own description
- United Nations, Population Division (UN DESA) · International bodyFunding: Member States of the United Nations, which bear its expenses as apportioned by the General Assembly (UN Charter, Article 17); the Population Division is part of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs. sourceIn its own words: “…conducts demographic research, supports intergovernmental processes at the United Nations in the area of population and development…” source, retrieved 2026-11-02
- World Health Organization (WHO) · International bodyFunding: Assessed contributions (membership dues) from member states, plus voluntary contributions from member states and other partners. sourceIn its own words: “…WHO is the United Nations agency that connects nations, partners and people to promote health…” source, retrieved 2026-10-27
- World Bank · International bodyFunding: Capital from its member governments, bonds sold on world capital markets, and donor contributions to its fund for the poorest countries (IDA). sourceIn its own words: “We exist to create a world free of poverty on a livable planet.” source, retrieved 2026-10-27
- Eurostat · International bodyFunding: EU budget; Eurostat is a Directorate-General of the European Commission. The gender-based violence survey was run with the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) and the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE), also EU-funded. sourceIn its own words: “Our mission is to provide high-quality statistics and data on Europe.” source, retrieved 2026-10-27
- OECD · International bodyFunding: Contributions from its member countries, set by a formula based on the size of each economy, plus voluntary contributions. sourceIn its own words: “Our core aim is to set international standards and support their implementation…” source, retrieved 2026-10-27
- UN World Population Prospects 2024Used for 237 countries; counts toward 235. Years 2023. Retrieved 2026-11-02.Not counted where: its latest year, 2023, is more than one year older than this row's newest line (2025), so the two describe different periods.Open the publisher's page
- Eurostat, life expectancy by age and sex (demo_mlexpec)Used for 46 countries; counts toward 37. Years 2010 to 2024. Retrieved 2026-11-02.Not counted where: its latest year, 2019, is more than one year older than this row's newest line (2023), so the two describe different periods; its latest year, 2018, is more than one year older than this row's newest line (2023), so the two describe different periods; its latest year, 2016, is more than one year older than this row's newest line (2023), so the two describe different periods; and other reasons.Open the publisher's page
- OECD Health Statistics, life expectancy (DF_LE)Used for 50 countries; counts toward 10. Years 2023 to 2025. Retrieved 2026-11-02.Not counted where: it republishes UN WPP; it republishes Eurostat; it comes from a national population projection, not from a year's recorded deaths.Open the publisher's pageData (API)
- WHO Global Health Estimates, life expectancy at birth (WHOSIS_000001)Used for 185 countries; counts toward 0 (shown only). Years 2021. Retrieved 2026-11-02.Not counted where: its latest year, 2021, is more than one year older than this row's newest line (2023), so the two describe different periods; its latest year, 2021, is more than one year older than this row's newest line (2024), so the two describe different periods; its latest year, 2021, is more than one year older than this row's newest line (2025), so the two describe different periods.Open the publisher's page
- World Bank, World Development Indicators (SP.DYN.LE00.IN)Used for 182 countries; counts toward 0 (shown only). Years 2024. Retrieved 2026-11-02.Not counted where: it republishes UN WPP; it republishes OECD; it republishes Eurostat.Open the publisher's page
Why the numbers differ (6)
- Every source here is a period life table: it applies one year's death rates by age to a newborn for a whole life. It is a summary of that year's mortality, not a forecast of how long a baby born today will live, so a bad year pulls it down at once.
- Sources stop in different years, so a row counts only lines within one year of its newest source. A national population projection never counts and never sets that year, as with OECD's 2025 figures for Colombia, Mexico and Peru. WHO's downloadable file ends in 2021, a pandemic year, so WHO lines are shown with their series but not counted. The UN's estimates end in 2023, so they are not counted where OECD reports 2025: Chile, Costa Rica. (source, retrieved 2026-11-02)
- Where deaths are not fully registered, the figure is modelled from surveys, censuses and child-mortality estimates. In 2021 the median gap between the UN and WHO was 0.39 years in countries WHO lists under vital registration and 1.18 years in those it lists under model life tables. (source, retrieved 2026-11-02)
- Where deaths are well registered the sources sit close together: in 28 of 36 countries with a Eurostat figure for 2023 the UN figure is within half a year of it. Eurostat recalculates from reported deaths, and the UN fits a model to the same registers. (source, retrieved 2026-11-02)
- According to OECD's sources document, as read on 2 November 2026 (the copy is kept with the raw files; scripted requests to the link got HTTP 200 and, in a later check, HTTP 403), methods differ in the detail. Australia, New Zealand and Türkiye use three-year periods, and OECD averages men and women for Japan and the United Kingdom. Eurostat and Statistics Norway treat ages above 90 differently, and Mexico, Colombia and Peru report figures from population projections. (source, retrieved 2026-11-02)
- These lines are not fully independent. WHO uses the UN's population estimates and registered deaths the UN also uses. OECD's sources document, as read on 2 November 2026 (the copy is kept with the raw files; scripted requests to the link got HTTP 200 and, in a later check, HTTP 403), names Eurostat for 28 countries and the World Bank for 8, whose figures match the UN series, and those lines are not counted. For the United Kingdom and Türkiye, Eurostat and OECD rest on the same national registers, so only the newer of the two counts. (source, retrieved 2026-11-02)
Common mistakes (3)
- Life expectancy at birth is not the age most people reach. Deaths in childhood pull the average down, so a low figure does not mean adults there usually die at that age.
- A World Bank or OECD figure is often not a second source. Check whose data it repeats before treating two matching numbers as agreement.
- A UN figure for a recent year in a country with thin registration is an estimate from a model, even when it is printed to several decimals. (source, retrieved 2026-11-02)
Context (4)
- UN World Population Prospects 2024 methodology report. Retrieved 2026-11-02.
- WHO methods and data sources for life tables 2000-2023, with the method used for each country. Retrieved 2026-11-02.
- Eurostat metadata for mortality and life expectancy statistics, including breaks in the series. Retrieved 2026-11-02.
- OECD Health Statistics 2026: sources and methods for life expectancy, country by country, as read on 2 November 2026 (the copy is kept with the raw files; scripted requests to the link got HTTP 200 and, in a later check, HTTP 403). Retrieved 2026-11-02.
Sources considered and not used (8)
- WHO Global Health Observatory OData API (WHOSIS_000001): Each request made to the API on 2 November 2026 got a server error (HTTP 500). WHO's September 2026 paper describes life tables for 2000-2023, but the file that could be downloaded, from the WHO Data Hub with the same indicator code, ends in 2021, so the WHO lines are one release behind. (source, retrieved 2026-11-02)
- UN World Population Prospects, projection years: Years after 2023 in the UN file are the medium projection, not estimates, so the UN lines stop at 2023. (source, retrieved 2026-11-02)
- OECD, Russia: OECD's data file has a Russia series, but its Sources and Methods 2026 document, as read on 2 November 2026 (the copy is kept with the raw files; scripted requests to the link got HTTP 200 and, in a later check, HTTP 403), has no Russia entry, so the origin of the figures could not be stated. (source, retrieved 2026-11-02)
- Eurostat, aggregates, Metropolitan France and Germany including the former GDR: The page shows countries. The France and Germany rows use Eurostat's standard country codes instead of these alternative territories.
- World Bank, values no line here reproduces: For these countries the 2024 World Bank value matches neither the UN file nor (female + 1.05 x male) / 2.05 from a Eurostat or OECD line, so its origin could not be shown and the value is left out rather than marked as a copy (for example Armenia: World Bank 78.32, UN 75.85). World Bank names national statistical offices as one of its sources: Armenia, Belarus, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Germany, Greenland, Hong Kong, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Macao, Mauritius, Mongolia, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Russia, Serbia, Seychelles, Singapore, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Togo, United Kingdom, United States Virgin Islands. (source, retrieved 2026-11-02)
- World Bank, yearly series: World Bank lines show the latest value only and are not counted. The series blends the UN, national offices and Eurostat, which would splice sources into one line. (source, retrieved 2026-11-02)
- Human Mortality Database: Register-based period life tables for selected countries, but a request for a data file was sent to the login page on 2 November 2026, and registering is outside this site's rules, so no values were taken from it. (source, retrieved 2026-11-02)
- IHME Global Burden of Disease: This site's homicide page recorded on 25 October 2026 that the GBD Results tool asks users to register and sign in before downloading; it was not rechecked for this page, and no values were taken from it.
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