Countries by healthy life expectancy at birth

Japan had the highest healthy life expectancy at birth of 185 countries in 2012, at 72.5 years. Lesotho had the lowest, at 42.7 years. The median was 63.6 years. Source: World Health Organization.

Highest72.5Japan

Lowest42.7Lesotho

Median63.6185 countries

Top 40 countries, 2012

years. Source: World Health Organization, Healthy life expectancy at birth (years), both sexes (WHOSIS_000002). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

Rank	Countries	2012 years	Change on 2011
1	Japan	72.5	+0.4
2	Singapore	72.5	+0.2
3	Iceland	71	+0.1
4	Spain	70.9	+0.1
5	Sweden	70.7	-0.1
6	Israel	70.6	-0
7	Cyprus	70.6	+0.2
8	Italy	70.6	0
9	South Korea	70.6	+0.1
10	Switzerland	70.6	+0.1
11	Luxembourg	70.4	+0.2
12	Malta	70.3	+0.2
13	Netherlands	70.2	-0.1
14	Norway	70.1	+0.3
15	Canada	70.1	+0.1
16	France	70	0
17	Australia	69.9	+0.3
18	Austria	69.6	0
19	Kuwait	69.6	-0.1
20	United Kingdom	69.3	0
21	Costa Rica	69.3	+0.1
22	Ireland	69.3	+0.1
23	New Zealand	69.3	+0.2
24	Denmark	69.3	+0.2
25	Greece	69.2	-0
26	Germany	69.2	+0.1
27	Finland	69.1	+0.1
28	Portugal	68.9	+0.1
29	United Arab Emirates	68.9	0
30	Slovenia	68.9	+0.1
31	Peru	68.8	+0.3
32	Belgium	68.8	-0
33	Puerto Rico	68.5	+0.6
34	Cuba	68.4	-0.1
35	Chile	68.4	0
36	Albania	67.7	+0.7
37	Czechia	67.4	+0.2
38	Brunei	67.4	-0.1
39	Croatia	67.4	+0.1
40	China	67.2	+0.3
41	Panama	67.1	-0
42	Bosnia and Herzegovina	67.1	+0.2
43	Colombia	67	+0.2
44	Maldives	66.9	+0.6
45	Montenegro	66.7	+0.2
46	Poland	66.7	+0.1
47	Lebanon	66.6	0
48	United States	66.6	0
49	Türkiye	66.6	+0.1
50	Thailand	66.6	+0.3
51	Jordan	66.5	+0.2
52	Estonia	66.4	+0.1
53	Barbados	66.4	+0.2
54	Uruguay	66.4	-0.2
55	Nicaragua	66.2	+0.1
56	Slovakia	66.2	+0.2
57	Argentina	66.2	+0.2
58	Saudi Arabia	66.1	+0.7
59	Ecuador	66.1	+0.2
60	Tunisia	66	+0.1
61	Iran	65.9	+0.2
62	Saint Lucia	65.9	+0.1
63	Antigua and Barbuda	65.8	0
64	Sri Lanka	65.8	+0.5
65	Serbia	65.6	+0.2
66	North Macedonia	65.6	0
67	Algeria	65.5	+0.1
68	Malaysia	65.5	+0.3
69	Hungary	65.5	+0.2
70	Qatar	65.3	+0.5
71	Romania	65.2	-0.1
72	Mexico	65.2	+0.2
73	Jamaica	65.1	+1.1
74	Bulgaria	65	+0.2
75	El Salvador	65	+0.6
76	Armenia	64.9	+0.3
77	Paraguay	64.9	+0.2
78	Cape Verde	64.8	+0.1
79	Bahrain	64.8	+0.3
80	Venezuela	64.7	-0.1
81	Belize	64.6	+0.2
82	Vietnam	64.6	+0.1
83	Latvia	64.6	+0.2
84	Seychelles	64.5	-0
85	Trinidad and Tobago	64.5	+0.5
86	Oman	64.2	+0.3
87	Lithuania	64.1	+0.3
88	Dominican Republic	64.1	-0.2
89	Mauritius	64	+0.1
90	Libya	63.8	+2.1
91	Georgia	63.6	+0.2
92	Tonga	63.6	0
93	Bahamas	63.6	+0.1
94	Brazil	63.5	+0.2
95	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	63.4	-0.2
96	Suriname	63.4	+0.2
97	Grenada	63.4	+0.4
98	Belarus	63.1	+1.2
99	Azerbaijan	63.1	+0.7
100	North Korea	63	+0.2
101	Palestine	63	+0.2
102	Bhutan	62.8	+0.3
103	Morocco	62.8	+0.2
104	Tajikistan	62.6	+0.4
105	Bangladesh	62.3	+0.7
106	Bolivia	62.1	+0.3
107	Ukraine	62	+0.1
108	Indonesia	61.9	+0.2
109	Moldova	61.9	+0.4
110	Kyrgyzstan	61.8	+0.4
111	Samoa	61.7	-0.2
112	Guatemala	61.7	+0.3
113	Iraq	61.4	+0.2
114	Philippines	61.3	-0.2
115	Egypt	61.2	-0.2
116	Turkmenistan	61.2	+0.1
117	Russia	61.1	+0.4
118	São Tomé and Príncipe	61.1	+0.3
119	Kazakhstan	61.1	+0.5
120	Mauritania	60.6	+0.3
121	Honduras	60.3	-1.3
122	Nepal	60	+0.2
123	Uzbekistan	59.9	+0.4
124	Mongolia	59.6	+0.4
125	Fiji	59.6	+0.1
126	Cambodia	59.6	+0.4
127	Timor-Leste	59	+0.2
128	Vanuatu	58.9	+0.1
129	India	58.6	+0.3
130	Yemen	58.5	+0.1
131	Sudan	58.5	+0.4
132	Comoros	58.3	+0.5
133	Myanmar	58.2	+0.5
134	Laos	58.1	+0.4
135	Senegal	57.7	+0.3
136	Micronesia	57.4	+0.1
137	Solomon Islands	57.4	+0.1
138	Papua New Guinea	57.2	+0.1
139	Guyana	57.1	0
140	Rwanda	57.1	+0.6
141	Ethiopia	56.7	+0.7
142	Syria	56.6	-5.9
143	Pakistan	56	+0.2
144	Ghana	55.4	+0.5
145	Madagascar	55.4	+0.2
146	Djibouti	55.3	+0.4
147	Tanzania	55.1	+0.7
148	Gambia	55.1	+0.3
149	Kenya	54.9	+0.6
150	Gabon	54.3	+0.5
151	Kiribati	54.1	+0.1
152	Namibia	53.8	+0.5
153	Benin	53.8	+0.3
154	Uganda	53.7	+0.8
155	Eritrea	53.5	+0.4
156	Burundi	53.3	+0.7
157	Republic of the Congo	53.3	+0.1
158	Haiti	53.2	+0.3
159	Togo	52.8	+0.5
160	Nigeria	52.6	+0.4
161	South Africa	52.2	+1.4
162	Malawi	52.1	+1.1
163	Burkina Faso	52.1	+0.4
164	Equatorial Guinea	52.1	+0.2
165	Liberia	52	+0.3
166	Botswana	51.8	+1.1
167	Angola	51.7	+0.6
168	Mali	51.7	+0.2
169	Niger	51.6	+0.3
170	Guinea	51.5	+0.3
171	Afghanistan	51.3	+0.3
172	South Sudan	51.2	+0.3
173	Côte d’Ivoire	51.1	+0.9
174	Zambia	51.1	+0.6
175	Cameroon	50.5	+0.5
176	Democratic Republic of the Congo	50.4	+0.4
177	Guinea-Bissau	49.6	+0.4
178	Chad	49.3	+0.4
179	Sierra Leone	49.1	+0.6
180	Zimbabwe	48.3	+1.4
181	Mozambique	46.6	+0.2
182	Somalia	44.3	+5.2
183	Central African Republic	43.3	+0.3
184	Eswatini	43.1	+0.9
185	Lesotho	42.7	-0.1

Other periods

About this ranking

Average number of years a newborn can expect to live in full health (HALE), counting years lived with disease or injury as partly lost. Both sexes. WHO Global Health Estimates, calculated with Sullivan's method from life tables and the rate of years lived with disability.

Modelled WHO estimates, not a national survey measure, so they differ from Eurostat's healthy life years, which come from self-reported limitations. Values are served with every decimal WHO publishes. WHO revises these series, past years included, when new national reports or estimates come in, so values can change between retrievals.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the countries are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

World Health Organization, data.who.int. Healthy life expectancy at birth (years), both sexes (WHOSIS_000002) [Indicator]. https://data.who.int/indicators/i/48D9B0C/C64284D (Accessed on 2026-10-12). Licensed under CC BY 4.0. No changes made to source values. WHO does not endorse Invokely or this use of the data.

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Questions

Which country has the highest healthy life expectancy at birth?

Japan, with 72.5 years in 2012, according to World Health Organization.

Which country has the lowest healthy life expectancy at birth?

Lesotho, with 42.7 years in 2012.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: World Health Organization, Healthy life expectancy at birth (years), both sexes (WHOSIS_000002). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Healthy life expectancy at birth: other rankings

EU countries