Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries) | 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
Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries)
Records
63
Source
Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries) | Life expectancy at birth, total (years)
41.42254578 1960
41.73973936 1961
42.20072058 1962
42.44062026 1963
42.89083773 1964
43.02945129 1965
42.98409005 1966
43.23217833 1967
43.67073478 1968
43.91130717 1969
44.36983024 1970
44.87080397 1971
44.98734366 1972
45.70879536 1973
45.92046166 1974
46.3064327 1975
46.9849522 1976
47.44780321 1977
47.74858696 1978
48.21002891 1979
48.57245576 1980
48.93781946 1981
49.17604168 1982
48.33214819 1983
48.36180775 1984
48.61274753 1985
49.00706987 1986
49.33812158 1987
49.02019768 1988
49.88486949 1989
49.82430763 1990
49.69963103 1991
49.47216067 1992
49.69693252 1993
50.00215988 1994
50.11417407 1995
50.04852833 1996
50.21533671 1997
49.92778687 1998
50.64083818 1999
51.2645448 2000
51.53632183 2001
51.89134244 2002
52.36952152 2003
52.84880712 2004
53.46219505 2005
54.21330107 2006
54.84902854 2007
55.45071261 2008
56.21961307 2009
56.84736569 2010
57.55861069 2011
58.14101325 2012
58.668043 2013
59.1426582 2014
59.5629817 2015
60.06902467 2016
60.47713846 2017
60.86302754 2018
61.24429052 2019
60.84889442 2020
60.24174346 2021
2022
Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries) | 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
Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries)
Records
63
Source