Ranked: Every Country by Life Expectancy in 2026

How Long Do People Live Around the World in 2026?

Life expectancy has improved in every country and territory in this ranking since 1950, though progress has varied considerably.

This graphic ranks 237 countries and territories by life expectancy at birth in 2026 and shows their gains since 1950, using the United Nations’ World Population Prospects 2024 medium projections for 2026.

European Microstates and East Asia Lead Global Life Expectancy

Monaco has the highest life expectancy in the world at 86.7 years, followed by fellow European microstate San Marino at 86.0 years.

The next three places are in East Asia: Hong Kong (85.9), Japan (85.1), and South Korea (84.6). Heart health is one contributing factor, as Japan and South Korea have some of the lowest death rates from coronary heart disease in the OECD.

The table below shows life expectancy in 1950 and 2026 for all 237 countries and territories, along with the years gained:

Rank	Country / Territory	Life Expectancy in 1950 (Years)	Life Expectancy in 2026 (Years)	Gain Since 1950 (Years)
1	Monaco	68.0	86.7	18.7
2	San Marino	71.6	86.0	14.4
3	Hong Kong SAR	57.8	85.9	28.1
4	Japan	59.3	85.1	25.9
5	South Korea	22.2	84.6	62.4
6	Saint Barthélemy	54.0	84.6	30.7
7	Andorra	67.2	84.5	17.3
8	French Polynesia	51.9	84.4	32.6
9	Switzerland	68.9	84.4	15.5
10	Australia	69.0	84.3	15.3
11	Italy	65.7	84.2	18.5
12	Singapore	54.1	84.1	30.0
13	Spain	61.8	84.1	22.3
14	Liechtenstein	65.3	84.1	18.7
15	Réunion	47.6	83.9	36.4
16	Gibraltar	65.1	83.9	18.8
17	Malta	63.5	83.8	20.3
18	Norway	71.6	83.8	12.2
19	Sweden	71.1	83.7	12.6
20	France	66.4	83.7	17.3
21	Guernsey	71.2	83.7	12.4
22	Macao SAR	58.3	83.6	25.3
23	Holy See	65.9	83.4	17.6
24	United Arab Emirates	42.1	83.4	41.2
25	Iceland	71.0	83.3	12.3
26	Canada	68.2	83.1	14.8
27	Martinique	55.0	83.0	28.1
28	Ireland	65.6	82.9	17.3
29	Israel	69.9	82.9	13.0
30	Portugal	58.5	82.9	24.4
31	Qatar	50.8	82.8	32.1
32	Bermuda	60.4	82.8	22.5
33	Luxembourg	65.5	82.6	17.1
34	Netherlands	71.4	82.6	11.2
35	Belgium	66.3	82.6	16.3
36	Guadeloupe	53.1	82.6	29.5
37	New Zealand	69.3	82.5	13.3
38	Austria	64.8	82.5	17.6
39	Finland	64.2	82.4	18.2
40	Greece	66.2	82.4	16.2
41	Denmark	70.3	82.4	12.1
42	Puerto Rico	60.4	82.3	21.9
43	Cyprus	55.8	82.2	26.3
44	Slovenia	61.8	82.1	20.3
45	Germany	66.8	81.9	15.1
46	United Kingdom	68.6	81.7	13.1
47	Bahrain	38.6	81.7	43.1
48	Maldives	36.5	81.7	45.2
49	Chile	53.2	81.7	28.6
50	Isle of Man	63.1	81.4	18.3
51	Costa Rica	57.5	81.4	23.9
52	Taiwan	56.6	81.1	24.5
53	Kuwait	49.7	81.0	31.2
54	Cayman Islands	54.0	80.9	26.9
55	Saint Martin (French part)	65.1	80.8	15.7
56	Faroe Islands	60.6	80.8	20.2
57	Oman	29.3	80.7	51.4
58	Czechia	64.4	80.3	15.8
59	Panama	55.4	80.1	24.7
60	Jersey	69.4	80.1	10.7
61	Albania	44.5	80.1	35.6
62	Anguilla	55.1	79.9	24.8
63	Falkland Islands (Malvinas)	49.5	79.8	30.3
64	United States	68.1	79.8	11.7
65	Estonia	66.4	79.6	13.3
66	Saudi Arabia	40.0	79.4	39.4
67	New Caledonia	45.1	79.2	34.1
68	Northern Mariana Islands	58.2	79.2	21.0
69	Poland	58.3	79.2	20.8
70	Croatia	58.5	79.1	20.6
71	Wallis and Futuna Islands	44.1	79.0	34.9
72	China	43.8	79.0	35.2
73	Slovakia	60.8	78.8	18.0
74	Cuba	59.0	78.6	19.6
75	Uruguay	65.6	78.6	13.0
76	Kosovo	43.5	78.6	35.1
77	Turks and Caicos Islands	48.6	78.5	29.9
78	Bosnia and Herzegovina	47.3	78.4	31.1
79	Türkiye	47.3	78.4	31.1
80	Jordan	40.9	78.3	37.4
81	Peru	46.0	78.3	32.3
82	Colombia	48.3	78.3	30.0
83	Iran	38.2	78.2	40.1
84	Lebanon	59.9	78.2	18.3
85	Antigua and Barbuda	58.1	78.1	20.0
86	Sri Lanka	53.2	78.0	24.9
87	Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba	61.5	78.0	16.4
88	Ecuador	48.4	77.9	29.5
89	Argentina	61.3	77.8	16.6
90	North Macedonia	50.6	77.8	27.2
91	Guam	59.6	77.8	18.2
92	British Virgin Islands	53.3	77.8	24.4
93	Montenegro	58.0	77.6	19.6
94	French Guiana	47.7	77.5	29.8
95	Hungary	62.1	77.5	15.4
96	State of Palestine	45.7	77.4	31.7
97	Tokelau	54.7	77.4	22.7
98	Curaçao	60.3	77.3	17.1
99	Serbia	55.1	77.3	22.2
100	Saint Helena	66.0	77.3	11.3
101	Saint Pierre and Miquelon	62.9	77.3	14.3
102	Malaysia	48.5	77.2	28.7
103	Tunisia	38.2	77.1	38.9
104	Thailand	45.2	77.1	31.9
105	Algeria	42.7	76.9	34.2
106	Sint Maarten (Dutch part)	62.4	76.9	14.4
107	Aruba	58.0	76.8	18.8
108	Montserrat	48.6	76.7	28.1
109	Barbados	53.6	76.6	23.1
110	Latvia	64.6	76.6	12.1
111	Mayotte	42.2	76.6	34.4
112	Cabo Verde	44.9	76.6	31.6
113	Lithuania	66.1	76.5	10.4
114	Romania	60.5	76.4	15.9
115	Brazil	48.5	76.4	27.8
116	Armenia	54.6	76.2	21.6
117	United States Virgin Islands	59.9	76.2	16.3
118	Bulgaria	61.5	76.1	14.7
119	Morocco	38.8	75.9	37.1
120	Cook Islands	37.9	75.8	37.9
121	Brunei	50.6	75.8	25.3
122	Grenada	52.7	75.7	22.9
123	Mexico	43.8	75.6	31.8
124	Bangladesh	37.4	75.5	38.1
125	Mauritius	51.9	75.4	23.5
126	Nicaragua	40.6	75.4	34.8
127	Libya	33.1	75.2	42.1
128	Vietnam	48.0	75.0	27.0
129	Ukraine	61.2	75.0	13.8
130	Bahamas	58.9	75.0	16.1
131	Georgia	57.7	75.0	17.3
132	Belarus	58.6	75.0	16.3
133	Azerbaijan	46.3	74.9	28.6
134	Kazakhstan	55.6	74.8	19.2
135	Paraguay	58.1	74.2	16.2
136	Dominican Republic	44.1	74.1	30.1
137	Belize	49.2	74.1	24.9
138	Suriname	50.7	74.0	23.3
139	North Korea	14.2	74.0	59.8
140	Trinidad and Tobago	57.0	73.9	16.9
141	Bhutan	35.3	73.8	38.5
142	Russia	55.5	73.7	18.2
143	Syria	42.5	73.4	31.0
144	Tonga	48.4	73.4	25.0
145	Honduras	41.0	73.4	32.3
146	Seychelles	57.8	73.3	15.5
147	American Samoa	59.2	73.3	14.1
148	Saint Lucia	48.3	73.2	24.9
149	Guatemala	37.8	73.0	35.2
150	Venezuela	51.1	73.0	21.9
151	Uzbekistan	53.3	72.8	19.4
152	El Salvador	44.2	72.7	28.5
153	India	41.2	72.7	31.5
154	Iraq	37.4	72.6	35.2
155	Saint Kitts and Nevis	54.8	72.6	17.8
156	Mongolia	38.6	72.5	33.9
157	Tajikistan	49.3	72.2	22.8
158	Egypt	34.0	72.2	38.2
159	Kyrgyzstan	52.1	72.1	20.0
160	Samoa	49.2	72.1	22.9
161	Vanuatu	43.9	72.0	28.1
162	Western Sahara	34.9	72.0	37.0
163	Jamaica	56.6	71.9	15.3
164	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	46.9	71.7	24.8
165	Dominica	44.5	71.6	27.1
166	Moldova	54.0	71.6	17.6
167	Indonesia	40.2	71.6	31.4
168	Nepal	37.6	71.2	33.6
169	Cambodia	38.9	71.1	32.3
170	Solomon Islands	41.4	71.0	29.5
171	Guyana	49.2	70.6	21.4
172	Turkmenistan	48.1	70.5	22.4
173	Greenland	39.5	70.4	30.9
174	Niue	54.6	70.4	15.8
175	Sao Tome and Principe	39.1	70.3	31.1
176	Philippines	53.6	70.2	16.6
177	Yemen	28.9	69.7	40.8
178	Laos	38.9	69.7	30.8
179	Palau	52.7	69.6	16.9
180	Botswana	46.2	69.6	23.4
181	Eritrea	33.3	69.4	36.1
182	Senegal	36.5	69.4	32.9
183	Mauritania	38.4	69.2	30.8
184	Bolivia	40.7	69.1	28.4
185	Uganda	39.7	68.9	29.2
186	Gabon	39.3	68.9	29.6
187	Rwanda	43.2	68.5	25.3
188	Timor-Leste	29.2	68.3	39.2
189	Ethiopia	35.5	68.1	32.6
190	Pakistan	34.2	68.1	33.8
191	Malawi	32.7	67.9	35.3
192	Namibia	41.9	67.8	25.9
193	Fiji	51.7	67.8	16.1
194	Micronesia	48.4	67.7	19.3
195	Tanzania	41.0	67.6	26.6
196	Tuvalu	40.0	67.6	27.6
197	Myanmar	35.7	67.5	31.8
198	Comoros	37.4	67.5	30.1
199	Marshall Islands	52.6	67.3	14.7
200	Sudan	45.8	66.9	21.1
201	Zambia	46.8	66.9	20.1
202	Kiribati	45.7	66.9	21.1
203	Afghanistan	28.2	66.8	38.6
204	South Africa	43.1	66.7	23.5
205	Djibouti	40.7	66.6	25.9
206	Papua New Guinea	39.4	66.5	27.1
207	Gambia	31.2	66.5	35.3
208	Republic of the Congo	39.6	66.4	26.8
209	Ghana	43.1	66.1	23.0
210	Haiti	37.2	65.5	28.2
211	Angola	35.9	65.2	29.3
212	Guinea-Bissau	35.7	64.6	28.9
213	Eswatini	43.4	64.5	21.1
214	Cameroon	33.1	64.5	31.4
215	Equatorial Guinea	40.1	64.3	24.2
216	Madagascar	39.7	64.3	24.6
217	Kenya	36.9	64.2	27.3
218	Mozambique	37.3	64.1	26.8
219	Burundi	40.9	64.1	23.2
220	Zimbabwe	49.4	63.6	14.2
221	Togo	41.9	63.3	21.4
222	Liberia	38.0	62.6	24.7
223	Naoero	56.6	62.6	6.0
224	Côte d’Ivoire	30.8	62.4	31.6
225	DR Congo	38.2	62.4	24.2
226	Sierra Leone	28.9	62.3	33.4
227	Niger	35.9	61.9	26.0
228	Burkina Faso	33.0	61.6	28.6
229	Benin	35.4	61.3	25.9
230	Guinea	35.6	61.2	25.6
231	Mali	28.7	61.1	32.4
232	Somalia	41.5	59.3	17.8
233	Lesotho	44.6	58.6	14.0
234	Central African Republic	35.4	58.2	22.7
235	South Sudan	30.2	58.0	27.8
236	Chad	35.2	55.6	20.4
237	Nigeria	35.5	55.0	19.4

Life expectancy of at least 80 years has become much more widespread. There are now 61 countries and territories at that level, compared with none in 1950.

The U.S. has experienced a substantial drop in the rankings. In 1950, it ranked 15th at 68.1 years. By 2026, it had fallen to 64th, despite life expectancy rising to 79.8 years.

Its gain of just 11.7 years is the sixth-smallest among all 237 countries and territories. Canada, which started at a similar level in 1950, has gained 14.8 years and now ranks 26th at 83.1 years.

Where Life Expectancy Grew the Most Since 1950

Global life expectancy has risen from 46.4 years to 73.8 years since 1950, a gain of 27.4 years. Vaccination has helped more children survive, and a WHO-led study found that immunization reduced infant deaths by 40% between 1974 and 2024.

South Korea recorded the largest gain, rising from 22.2 years to 84.6 years. Its starting point coincided with the outbreak of the Korean War, and it has since climbed from second-to-last to fifth among the world’s longest-living countries.

Gulf oil states account for four of the 10 largest gains, including Oman, where life expectancy rose from 29.3 to 80.7 years. The UN credits Oman’s investment of energy earnings in education and public health as a driver of its development gains.

All 10 lowest-ranked countries and territories are in sub-Saharan Africa, with Nigeria last at 55.0 years and Chad just above it at 55.6.

Child mortality remains a major factor. About one in 10 Nigerian children die before their fifth birthday, compared with roughly two in 1,000 in Japan, according to the UN’s projections for 2026.

The historical comparison is striking: despite gaining 19.4 years since 1950, Nigeria’s life expectancy in 2026 remains below the 59.3 years Japan had already reached in 1950.

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• Source: https://www.visualcapitalist.com/ranked-life-expectancy-of-every-country-2026/