Least developed countries: UN classification | 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
Least developed countries: UN classification
Records
63
Source
Least developed countries: UN classification | Life expectancy at birth, total (years)
41.22147255 1960
41.65130989 1961
42.15107395 1962
42.27490325 1963
43.00147719 1964
42.97278403 1965
43.35628343 1966
43.95544443 1967
44.31806916 1968
44.56074413 1969
43.24026914 1970
40.0580352 1971
45.04345906 1972
45.62613135 1973
45.56460897 1974
45.47961357 1975
46.09905344 1976
46.81669591 1977
47.13614007 1978
47.62350557 1979
48.08742768 1980
48.42049675 1981
48.70784618 1982
47.98189681 1983
48.05116859 1984
48.42151471 1985
49.06479321 1986
49.63085077 1987
49.44671776 1988
50.44718313 1989
50.70240312 1990
50.42063477 1991
51.07388754 1992
51.61930806 1993
52.2984569 1994
52.8058547 1995
52.95430815 1996
53.66097624 1997
53.96065103 1998
55.20420857 1999
55.79280181 2000
56.27359893 2001
56.74822283 2002
57.33085316 2003
57.81062726 2004
58.34672026 2005
58.9450601 2006
59.37435522 2007
59.51389134 2008
60.50565461 2009
60.96630398 2010
61.68605925 2011
62.2606485 2012
62.70394668 2013
63.12340036 2014
63.49578313 2015
64.01958645 2016
64.41446717 2017
64.81849985 2018
65.15557375 2019
64.63474279 2020
64.2158675 2021
2022

Least developed countries: UN classification | 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
Least developed countries: UN classification
Records
63
Source