Simply put, life expectancy is the average period of time that a person may expect to live.

While the concept may be familiar and seemingly simple, the nuances of its calculation are far from it. Life expectancy is actually a statistical measure of how long a person may live based on a multitude of demographic factors like the year they were born, their current age, and even their sex. While in mathematical terms life expectancy refers to the expected number of years of life remaining for an individual at any given age, expectancy estimates are often given as life expectancy at birth.

Life Expectancy Comparisons

Life expectancy figures are perhaps most interesting in relative terms. We might consider how life expectancy has changed over the years or how life expectancies differ between the sexes. Perhaps we are more interested in the differences in life expectancy estimates in different regions or countries, which is where global life expectancies come in.

Here we will look at the trends in life expectancy in countries with the best (highest) and worst (lowest) life expectancies over the last ten years.

Top 10 Countries With Best Life Expectancy: Then and Now

Let’s see how global life expectancy figures by country have changed in the years since 2006.

2017 showed an overall increase in life expectancy and some new countries making the list.

Bottom 10 Countries With Worst Life Expectancy: Then and Now

While the countries with the best life expectancies have seen an overall increase in their numbers, so too have the countries with the worst life expectancies.

Here are the bottom ten countries with the shortest life expectancies in 2006 and as of 2017.

Again, 2017 saw new countries make the list.

Life Expectancies of Other Countries of Interest

Many are surprised by the major countries that don’t make the top ten list in terms of highest life expectancies.

Here are the life expectancy numbers for some of those notable countries that didn’t make the top ten.

  • Central Intelligence Agency. The World Factbook.

By Mark Stibich, PhD

Mark Stibich, PhD, FIDSA, is a behavior change expert with experience helping individuals make lasting lifestyle improvements.

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