World | 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
World
Records
63
Source
World | Life expectancy at birth, total (years)
50.89417969 1960
52.84633643 1961
55.20868386 1962
55.54234061 1963
56.03487534 1964
55.86063331 1965
56.38974347 1966
56.79478414 1967
57.22542114 1968
57.5355516 1969
57.84094631 1970
57.96723793 1971
58.79292431 1972
59.29465121 1973
59.71363348 1974
60.16610027 1975
60.62581046 1976
61.12086665 1977
61.48145494 1978
61.9027523 1979
62.23355552 1980
62.61128333 1981
62.97221434 1982
63.21564058 1983
63.52012413 1984
63.81228938 1985
64.20823171 1986
64.5127565 1987
64.68486253 1988
65.02281527 1989
65.18840651 1990
65.33519025 1991
65.59637517 1992
65.78025124 1993
66.02523417 1994
66.21565793 1995
66.48003428 1996
66.82174035 1997
67.0967795 1998
67.38719522 1999
67.7004017 2000
68.0522403 2001
68.33322196 2002
68.60683639 2003
68.86230529 2004
69.19874131 2005
69.57122906 2006
69.83511451 2007
70.00610058 2008
70.40149984 2009
70.67120077 2010
71.00829742 2011
71.28437756 2012
71.57722586 2013
71.88087567 2014
72.09434071 2015
72.34434845 2016
72.54169517 2017
72.7832104 2018
72.9791435 2019
72.24346591 2020
71.32686542 2021
2022
World | 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
World
Records
63
Source