Congo, Dem. Rep. | Life expectancy at birth, total (years)
Life expectancy at birth indicates the number of years a newborn infant would live if prevailing patterns of mortality at the time of its birth were to stay the same throughout its life. Development relevance: Mortality rates for different age groups (infants, children, and adults) and overall mortality indicators (life expectancy at birth or survival to a given age) are important indicators of health status in a country. Because data on the incidence and prevalence of diseases are frequently unavailable, mortality rates are often used to identify vulnerable populations. And they are among the indicators most frequently used to compare socioeconomic development across countries. Limitations and exceptions: Annual data series from United Nations Population Division's World Population Prospects are interpolated data from 5-year period data. Therefore they may not reflect real events as much as observed data. Statistical concept and methodology: Life expectancy at birth used here is the average number of years a newborn is expected to live if mortality patterns at the time of its birth remain constant in the future. It reflects the overall mortality level of a population, and summarizes the mortality pattern that prevails across all age groups in a given year. It is calculated in a period life table which provides a snapshot of a population's mortality pattern at a given time. It therefore does not reflect the mortality pattern that a person actually experiences during his/her life, which can be calculated in a cohort life table. High mortality in young age groups significantly lowers the life expectancy at birth. But if a person survives his/her childhood of high mortality, he/she may live much longer. For example, in a population with a life expectancy at birth of 50, there may be few people dying at age 50. The life expectancy at birth may be low due to the high childhood mortality so that once a person survives his/her childhood, he/she may live much longer than 50 years.
Publisher
The World Bank
Origin
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Records
63
Source
Congo, Dem. Rep. | Life expectancy at birth, total (years)
40.857 1960
40.239 1961
40.342 1962
40.604 1963
40.052 1964
40.704 1965
42.053 1966
42.31 1967
42.705 1968
42.976 1969
43.284 1970
43.656 1971
43.933 1972
44.096 1973
44.41 1974
44.471 1975
44.656 1976
44.763 1977
44.537 1978
45.207 1979
45.473 1980
45.72 1981
45.92 1982
46.181 1983
46.445 1984
46.624 1985
46.914 1986
47.336 1987
47.768 1988
48.17 1989
48.601 1990
48.948 1991
49.244 1992
49.551 1993
49.884 1994
50.411 1995
49.307 1996
50.402 1997
49.696 1998
49.945 1999
51.781 2000
52.116 2001
52.333 2002
52.827 2003
53.426 2004
53.927 2005
54.534 2006
54.923 2007
55.339 2008
55.836 2009
56.417 2010
57.069 2011
57.248 2012
57.762 2013
58.296 2014
58.49 2015
59.066 2016
59.411 2017
59.942 2018
60.276 2019
59.739 2020
59.193 2021
2022
Congo, Dem. Rep. | Life expectancy at birth, total (years)
Life expectancy at birth indicates the number of years a newborn infant would live if prevailing patterns of mortality at the time of its birth were to stay the same throughout its life. Development relevance: Mortality rates for different age groups (infants, children, and adults) and overall mortality indicators (life expectancy at birth or survival to a given age) are important indicators of health status in a country. Because data on the incidence and prevalence of diseases are frequently unavailable, mortality rates are often used to identify vulnerable populations. And they are among the indicators most frequently used to compare socioeconomic development across countries. Limitations and exceptions: Annual data series from United Nations Population Division's World Population Prospects are interpolated data from 5-year period data. Therefore they may not reflect real events as much as observed data. Statistical concept and methodology: Life expectancy at birth used here is the average number of years a newborn is expected to live if mortality patterns at the time of its birth remain constant in the future. It reflects the overall mortality level of a population, and summarizes the mortality pattern that prevails across all age groups in a given year. It is calculated in a period life table which provides a snapshot of a population's mortality pattern at a given time. It therefore does not reflect the mortality pattern that a person actually experiences during his/her life, which can be calculated in a cohort life table. High mortality in young age groups significantly lowers the life expectancy at birth. But if a person survives his/her childhood of high mortality, he/she may live much longer. For example, in a population with a life expectancy at birth of 50, there may be few people dying at age 50. The life expectancy at birth may be low due to the high childhood mortality so that once a person survives his/her childhood, he/she may live much longer than 50 years.
Publisher
The World Bank
Origin
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Records
63
Source