Life Expectancy Quiz
Life expectancy at birth is the single most useful health statistic. Monaco, Japan, and Hong Kong all lead the world above 84 years. Chad, Lesotho, and the Central African Republic sit at the bottom around 53 years — a thirty-year gap between the best-off and worst-off populations on Earth.
Why the ranking is sometimes surprising
Cuba and the United States have nearly identical life expectancies (around 78 years) despite vastly different per-capita health spending. Spain and Australia sit neck and neck with Switzerland. The Russian male life expectancy is dramatically lower than the female — one of the largest gender gaps in the world, largely driven by alcohol-related mortality. Costa Rica keeps pace with the US on a small fraction of the health spending.
Did you know?
- Japan and Monaco regularly trade the top spot for life expectancy, both averaging over 85 years.
- Globally, women live about 5 years longer than men on average — a gap that holds in nearly every country.
- Life expectancy has risen by more than 20 years globally since 1960, the largest demographic shift in human history.
- Lesotho and the Central African Republic both have life expectancies below 55, the lowest in the world.
- South Korea's life expectancy has risen faster than any other country's in the past 50 years.
- Hong Kong residents have the highest life expectancy in the world at over 85 years.
- Cuba's life expectancy is higher than that of the United States despite Cuba being much poorer.
- Singapore has the highest life expectancy in Southeast Asia and ranks among the global top 5.
- Russia has one of the largest gender gaps in life expectancy — Russian men live about 10 years less than Russian women.
- Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland routinely rank in the top 10 globally for life expectancy.
- Vietnam's life expectancy has more than doubled since 1960 thanks to massive improvements in healthcare access.
- The United States has lower life expectancy than every other G7 nation despite being the wealthiest.
- Australia's Indigenous population has roughly 7 fewer years of life expectancy than non-Indigenous Australians.
- Bhutan's life expectancy has risen by more than 30 years since 1960 — one of the most dramatic gains anywhere.
- Iran's life expectancy doubled between 1970 and 2010, largely due to expanded rural healthcare.
Where the data comes from
Every figure in this category is drawn from UN life expectancy at birth. Data is refreshed quarterly; if a number looks wrong, tell us and we will check the source.