Past Life Expectancy by Country 2026

	Country	Life Expectancy↓
	Hong Kong	83.41
	Macau	83.29
	Japan	83.28
	Switzerland	82.69
	Spain	82.52
	Italy	82.35
	Singapore	82.34
	Australia	82.3
	Iceland	82.19
	Israel	81.91
	France	81.89
	Sweden	81.89
	Canada	81.78
	Norway	81.61
	New Zealand	81.33
	Netherlands	81.31
	South Korea	81.27
	Martinique	81.19
	Luxembourg	81.15
	Austria	80.99
	United Kingdom	80.97
	Ireland	80.86
	Finland	80.7
	Greece	80.62
	Guadeloupe	80.54
	Belgium	80.53
	Portugal	80.51
	Germany	80.45
	Slovenia	80.31
	Malta	80.31
	Denmark	80.15
	Cyprus	79.92
	Reunion	79.53
	Mayotte	79.34
	Taiwan	79.24
	Puerto Rico	79.21
	French Guiana	79.18
	Cuba	79.16
	Costa Rica	79.16
	United States Virgin Islands	79.1
	Lebanon	78.94
	United States	78.88
	Guam	78.84
	Chile	78.83
	Czechia	78.17
	Curacao	77.78
	Albania	77.66
	Qatar	77.64
	Panama	77.32
	Croatia	77.05
	Poland	76.99
	Uruguay	76.96
	Estonia	76.76
	United Arab Emirates	76.71
	Brunei	76.71
	Mexico	76.49
	Bahrain	76.41
	Montenegro	76.39
	Bosnia and Herzegovina	76.31
	Slovakia	76.3
	Maldives	76.3
	New Caledonia	76.26
	Oman	76.21
	French Polynesia	76.14
	Argentina	76.01
	Antigua and Barbuda	75.82
	China	75.67
	Vietnam	75.56
	Ecuador	75.55
	Jamaica	75.45
	Hungary	75.4
	Aruba	75.37
	Barbados	75.36
	Algeria	75.27
	North Macedonia	75.15
	Bahamas	75.14
	Iran	75.06
	Tunisia	75.04
	Morocco	74.87
	Romania	74.85
	Turkey	74.83
	Saint Lucia	74.81
	Malaysia	74.73
	Brazil	74.66
	Serbia	74.65
	Sri Lanka	74.64
	Thailand	74.56
	Nicaragua	74.47
	Kuwait	74.29
	Bulgaria	74.25
	Peru	74.2
	Mauritius	74.13
	Samoa	74.09
	Saudi Arabia	73.99
	Lithuania	73.99
	Armenia	73.98
	Venezuela	73.95
	Latvia	73.92
	Jordan	73.81
	Colombia	73.75
	Dominican Republic	73.23
	Grenada	73.17
	Seychelles	72.95
	Honduras	72.89
	Palestine	72.86
	Paraguay	72.78
	Georgia	72.74
	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	72.74
	El Salvador	72.64
	Tonga	72.51
	Guatemala	72.44
	Belarus	72.15
	Cape Verde	72.14
	Azerbaijan	71.57
	Libya	71.47
	Vanuatu	71.36
	Bangladesh	71.24
	Ukraine	71.12
	Moldova	70.95
	Suriname	70.9
	Egypt	70.84
	Uzbekistan	70.8
	North Korea	70.79
	Tajikistan	70.38
	Russia	70.3
	Kyrgyzstan	70.27
	Trinidad and Tobago	70.23
	Syria	69.84
	Belize	69.76
	Fiji	69.72
	Solomon Islands	69.6
	Iraq	69.19
	Kazakhstan	69.06
	Nepal	68.91
	Micronesia	68.79
	Bhutan	68.78
	Philippines	68.61
	Indonesia	68.6
	Mongolia	68.47
	Western Sahara	68.41
	Timor-Leste	67.74
	Bolivia	67.72
	Cambodia	67.61
	India	67.57
	Turkmenistan	67.31
	Laos	67.17
	Guyana	66.25
	Sao Tome and Principe	66.14
	Myanmar	66.01
	Pakistan	65.86
	Senegal	65.71
	Kiribati	65.69
	Kenya	65.4
	Rwanda	65.16
	Papua New Guinea	64.97
	Madagascar	64.5
	Gabon	64.45
	Yemen	64.17
	Ethiopia	63.69
	Sudan	63.59
	Eritrea	63.42
	Botswana	62.91
	Comoros	62.83
	Tanzania	62.78
	Mauritania	62.64
	Republic of the Congo	62.55
	Haiti	62.29
	Afghanistan	62.25
	Namibia	61.75
	Ghana	61.68
	Djibouti	61.62
	Malawi	60.71
	Liberia	60.7
	Gambia	60.31
	Angola	60.19
	Benin	59.93
	Zambia	59.73
	South Africa	59.47
	Togo	59.07
	Burkina Faso	58.71
	Uganda	58.61
	Niger	58.53
	DR Congo	58.1
	Guinea	57.93
	Zimbabwe	57.64
	Equatorial Guinea	56.84
	Cameroon	56.39
	Mali	56.24
	Burundi	56.09
	Mozambique	56.08
	Guinea-Bissau	56
	South Sudan	55.06
	Eswatini	54.99
	Somalia	54.86
	Ivory Coast	54.37
	Lesotho	52.51
	Nigeria	51.88
	Chad	51.67
	Sierra Leone	50.19
	Central African Republic	49.4

Country

Life Expectancy↓

83.41

83.29

83.28

82.69

82.52

82.35

82.34

82.3

82.19

81.91

81.89

81.89

81.78

81.61

81.33

81.31

81.27

81.19

81.15

80.99

80.97

80.86

80.7

80.62

80.54

80.53

80.51

80.45

80.31

80.31

80.15

79.92

79.53

79.34

79.24

79.21

79.18

79.16

79.16

United States Virgin Islands

79.1

78.94

78.88

78.84

78.83

78.17

77.78

77.66

77.64

77.32

77.05

76.99

76.96

76.76

76.71

76.71

76.49

76.41

76.39

Bosnia and Herzegovina

76.31

76.3

76.3

76.26

76.21

76.14

76.01

75.82

75.67

75.56

75.55

75.45

75.4

75.37

75.36

75.27

75.15

75.14

75.06

75.04

74.87

74.85

74.83

74.81

74.73

74.66

74.65

74.64

74.56

74.47

74.29

74.25

74.2

74.13

74.09

73.99

73.99

73.98

73.95

73.92

73.81

73.75

73.23

73.17

72.95

72.89

72.86

72.78

72.74

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

72.74

72.64

72.51

72.44

72.15

72.14

71.57

71.47

71.36

71.24

71.12

70.95

70.9

70.84

70.8

70.79

70.38

70.3

70.27

70.23

69.84

69.76

69.72

69.6

69.19

69.06

68.91

68.79

68.78

68.61

68.6

68.47

68.41

67.74

67.72

67.61

67.57

67.31

67.17

66.25

Sao Tome and Principe

66.14

66.01

65.86

65.71

65.69

65.4

65.16

64.97

64.5

64.45

64.17

63.69

63.59

63.42

62.91

62.83

62.78

62.64

Republic of the Congo

62.55

62.29

62.25

61.75

61.68

61.62

60.71

60.7

60.31

60.19

59.93

59.73

59.47

59.07

58.71

58.61

58.53

58.1

57.93

57.64

56.84

56.39

56.24

56.09

56.08

55.06

54.99

54.86

54.37

52.51

51.88

51.67

50.19

Central African Republic

49.4

The global average life expectancy has more than doubled since 1900. Hong Kong used to have the highest life expectancy; however, now that it has become part of China once again, it no longer is a separate autonomous region.

As a country, Japan has the highest life expectancy of 85, beating the global average of 73 in 2020 by about a dozen years. The lowest life expectancy is found in the Central African Republic at around 53 years (2020 figure).

The countries with the lowest life expectancy are all in Africa, including the Central African Republic, Lesotho, Chad, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Somalia, Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast), South Sudan, Guinea-Bissau, and Equatorial Guinea.

The countries with the highest life expectancy in 2020 are Japan, Switzerland, Spain, Italy, Singapore, Liechtenstein, Iceland, and Israel.

By tracking the changes over the past 50 years, it is interesting to see what countries moved up on the list of the top ten for having the longest life expectancy.