The Global Health Observatory

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Situation and trends

 

The estimates confirm the trend for longevity: lifespans are getting longer up to 2019. However, the COVID-19 pandemic erased nearly a decade’s progress made in improving healthy longevity.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, global life expectancy has increased by more than 6 years between 2000 and 2019 – from 66.8 years in 2000 to 73.1 years in 2019. While healthy life expectancy (HALE) has also increased by 9% from 58.1 in 2000 to 63.5 in 2019, this was primarily due to declining mortality rather than reduced years lived with disability. In other words, the increase in HALE (5.3 years) has not kept pace with the increase in life expectancy (6.4 years). 

 

However, in just two years, the COVID-19 pandemic reversed about a decade of gains in both life expectancy at birth. By 2020, both global life expectancy and HALE had rolled back to 2016 levels (72.5 years and 62.8 years, respectively). The following year saw further declines, with both retreating to 2012 levels (71.4 years and 61.9 years, respectively). 

More on the Global Health Estimates

Global Health Estimates: Life expectancy and healthy life expectancy

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