Health
Verified dataThe world gained 27 years of life
Life expectancy at birth worldwide rose from about 46 years in 1950 to 73 in 2023 — one of humanity's great gains. COVID-19 caused the first global setback in a generation, before the trend resumed.
CSV · 21,565 rows · 1950–2023
Global life expectancy at birth rose from about 46 years in 1950 to 73 in 2023, a gain of some 27 years. COVID-19 cut it by about 1.7 years between 2019 and 2021 — the first global decline in a generation — before it recovered to a new high.
Key findings
- Global life expectancy rose from about 46 years in 1950 to 73 in 2023 — a gain of roughly 27 years.
- COVID-19 cut it by about 1.7 years between 2019 and 2021, the first global setback in a generation.
- By 2023 life expectancy had rebounded past its pre-pandemic level to a new high.
Explore the data
Coverage: Jan 1, 1950 – Dec 31, 2023 · World
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Sources
Primary source
UN, World Population Prospects (2024)
via Our World in Data
Life expectancy at birth
Accessed Aug 22, 2026
Period life expectancy at birth, World, 1950–2023.
Methodology
Period life expectancy at birth for the world, 1950 to 2023, in years — a snapshot of mortality across all ages in each year. Data are from the UN World Population Prospects (2024), distributed via Our World in Data.
What this does not show
Period life expectancy reflects death rates across all ages in a given year, not a forecast for a specific newborn. The 2020–21 dip is the COVID-19 pandemic; an earlier dip around 1960 reflects the famine in China. By 2023 the world had recovered to a new high.
Creator
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License: CC BY 4.0
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<figure style="margin:0;max-width:1600px">
<a href="https://chartive.org/visualizations/world-life-expectancy-1950-2023" target="_blank" rel="noopener">
<img src="https://chartive.org/infographics/world-life-expectancy-1950-2023.png" alt="Line chart of global life expectancy at birth from 1950 to 2023, rising from 46 to 73 years, with a dip around 1960 and a COVID-19 dip in 2020–21 before recovering." width="1600" height="2133" style="max-width:100%;height:auto" />
</a>
<figcaption style="font:14px/1.4 system-ui,sans-serif;color:#57534e;margin-top:8px">
Graphic by Chartive Editorial, using data from UN, World Population Prospects (2024) — via <a href="https://chartive.org/visualizations/world-life-expectancy-1950-2023" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chartive</a>
</figcaption>
</figure>Reuse is welcome — the embed keeps a link back to the source.
