Life Expectancy Worldwide

People around the world are living longer even in some of the poorest countries, but they are also spending more years burdened by illness and disability. An analysis of data from 188 countries found that life expectancy for both sexes increased by more than 6 years in the last quarter of a century. It went from just over 65 years in 1990 to 71.5 years in 2013. Healthy life expectancy also went up gaining more than five years. But that increase was not as dramatic as the growth of life expectancy in general. With healthy life expectancy at an average of 62, it means most people live in poor health for nearly a decade.

Researchers say the rise in overall life expectancy is due to significant declines in illness and death caused by HIV/AIDS and malaria, as well as infectious diseases, and mother and baby health problems.

Meanwhile the leading causes of health loss worldwide were heart disease, lower respiratory infections, and stroke.

According to the study published in The Lancet, Japan had the highest healthy life expectancy 73.4 years and Lesotho had the lowest at 42 years. Canada came in at number 10, and the US was not in the top ten.