IDA blend | 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
IDA blend
Records
63
Source
IDA blend | Life expectancy at birth, total (years)
1960 43.13132891
1961 43.73912742
1962 44.53413679
1963 45.21944602
1964 45.81711243
1965 46.37884275
1966 47.08721632
1967 47.18798147
1968 48.04724368
1969 48.61270021
1970 49.48963635
1971 48.22964492
1972 50.52169424
1973 50.9782532
1974 51.30734422
1975 51.79713849
1976 52.28765443
1977 52.65900114
1978 53.02074152
1979 53.3616086
1980 53.85728798
1981 54.38690523
1982 54.61273627
1983 54.96250316
1984 55.16369282
1985 55.16749214
1986 55.13972662
1987 55.04835514
1988 55.16679839
1989 55.28541569
1990 55.35812017
1991 55.20907341
1992 55.02011229
1993 54.82672119
1994 54.69206221
1995 54.45350164
1996 54.60367391
1997 54.66374006
1998 54.921379
1999 55.35470808
2000 55.78000075
2001 56.02860576
2002 56.38224256
2003 56.70188415
2004 57.02663983
2005 57.06326927
2006 57.8649628
2007 58.11207242
2008 58.40189967
2009 58.73616899
2010 59.07897345
2011 59.46176502
2012 59.65257136
2013 59.95962382
2014 60.12791036
2015 60.36020678
2016 60.56360982
2017 60.87711838
2018 61.07731953
2019 61.33159605
2020 61.00628794
2021 60.6802512
2022

IDA blend | 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
IDA blend
Records
63
Source