South Africa | 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
Republic of South Africa
Records
63
Source
South Africa | Life expectancy at birth, total (years)
52.669 1960
53.085 1961
53.376 1962
53.633 1963
53.906 1964
54.192 1965
54.391 1966
54.626 1967
54.876 1968
55.194 1969
55.579 1970
55.955 1971
56.272 1972
56.722 1973
57.117 1974
57.512 1975
58.006 1976
58.492 1977
58.979 1978
59.395 1979
59.813 1980
60.364 1981
60.933 1982
61.465 1983
61.907 1984
62.38 1985
62.912 1986
63.041 1987
63.345 1988
63.31 1989
63.375 1990
63.265 1991
63.341 1992
63.045 1993
62.612 1994
62.262 1995
61.459 1996
60.805 1997
60.001 1998
59.241 1999
58.47 2000
57.261 2001
55.666 2002
54.331 2003
54.043 2004
53.98 2005
54.278 2006
54.992 2007
56.022 2008
57.447 2009
58.899 2010
60.651 2011
61.846 2012
62.533 2013
63.38 2014
63.95 2015
64.747 2016
65.402 2017
65.674 2018
66.175 2019
65.252 2020
62.341 2021
2022
South Africa | 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
Republic of South Africa
Records
63
Source