Countries by Life expectancy at birth, total (years)
Monaco ranks first for life expectancy at birth with 86.37 years, based on 2023 World Bank data covering 216 countries. At the other end, Nigeria ranks 216th at 54.46 years, a gap of nearly 32 years between the highest and lowest values. This spread illustrates the wide variation in mortality conditions across the world.
Ranking 2023
Values shown in years.
Analysis
Life expectancy at birth measures 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. The unit is years, and the figure reflects mortality conditions at a single point in time rather than actual future survival. The 2023 dataset covers 216 countries, all with data from within the last seven years, and 100 percent of datapoints are classified as official-quality. The ranking spans a range of 54.46 to 86.37 years, a spread of 58.6 percent. Nine extreme outliers were identified using a 3-standard-deviation threshold.
The top of the ranking is concentrated in Western Europe and East Asia. Monaco leads at 86.37 years (Rank 1), followed by San Marino at 85.71 years (Rank 2) and Hong Kong SAR, China at 85.25 years (Rank 3). Switzerland (Rank 6, 84.06 years), Japan (Rank 7, 84.04 years), and Spain (Rank 9, 83.88 years) also place in the top ten. Several Gulf states rank notably high: Kuwait places 17th at 83.19 years, the United Arab Emirates 24th at 82.91 years, and Qatar 29th at 82.37 years.
The middle of the ranking includes a mix of upper-middle-income and lower-middle-income countries. China ranks 67th at 77.95 years, while India ranks 136th at 72.00 years. The United States places 61st at 78.39 years, below several European peers. At the lower end, Chad ranks 215th at 55.07 years and Nigeria ranks last at 54.46 years. Sub-Saharan African countries occupy most of the bottom 40 positions, with Central African Republic (Rank 213, 57.41 years) and Lesotho (Rank 214, 57.38 years) among the lowest-ranked.
Life expectancy at birth is a summary measure derived from age-specific mortality rates and does not reflect individual lifespans or future mortality trends. It treats current mortality patterns as fixed, which limits its predictive value. Reporting quality and civil registration completeness vary across countries, particularly where vital statistics systems are less developed, which can affect the precision of estimates. Small states and territories such as Monaco, San Marino, and Liechtenstein have very small populations, meaning their values can be more sensitive to year-to-year fluctuation. The data year is 2023, and year-over-year changes average 1.1 percent, indicating overall stability across the dataset.
Methodology
This ranking uses World Bank World Development Indicators, indicator code SP.DYN.LE00.IN, for the data year 2023. Life expectancy at birth is defined as follows: '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.' The unit is years. Data covers 216 countries, all meeting the recency threshold of data from within the last seven years (100 percent coverage). All datapoints are classified as official quality (100 percent, above the 70 percent threshold). The value range runs from 54.46 to 86.37 years, a spread of 58.6 percent. Nine extreme outliers were flagged at the 3-standard-deviation threshold. Average year-over-year change is 1.1 percent, well below the 50 percent volatility threshold. No microstates were excluded from this dataset. Rankings reflect mortality conditions at a single point in time and should not be interpreted as projections.