Countries by healthy life expectancy at birth

Japan had the highest healthy life expectancy at birth of 185 countries in 2017, at 73.4 years. Lesotho had the lowest, at 44.5 years. The median was 64.1 years. Source: World Health Organization.

Highest73.4Japan

Lowest44.5Lesotho

Median64.1185 countries

Top 40 countries, 2017

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

Full ranking

Rank	Countries	2017 years	Change on 2016
1	Japan	73.4	+0.1
2	Singapore	73.3	0
3	South Korea	72	+0.3
4	Luxembourg	71.4	+0.1
5	Spain	71.4	-0
6	Israel	71.3	+0.1
7	Iceland	71.3	+0.1
8	Switzerland	71.2	0
9	Malta	71.1	+0.1
10	Italy	71.1	-0.3
11	Norway	71	+0.1
12	Sweden	71	0
13	Cyprus	70.9	+0.1
14	Kuwait	70.6	0
15	Netherlands	70.5	+0.1
16	France	70.5	+0.1
17	Australia	70.3	+0.1
18	Austria	70.2	0
19	Ireland	70.2	+0.2
20	Canada	70.1	-0.1
21	Denmark	70.1	+0.2
22	Finland	70	+0.2
23	Portugal	69.9	+0.2
24	Slovenia	69.8	+0.1
25	Belgium	69.7	+0.1
26	Greece	69.7	-0
27	United Kingdom	69.5	+0.1
28	United Arab Emirates	69.3	+0.1
29	Germany	69.3	+0.1
30	New Zealand	69.3	-0.4
31	Peru	69.2	-0.6
32	Costa Rica	69.1	+0.1
33	Chile	69.1	+0.2
34	Maldives	68.7	+0.3
35	Albania	68.3	0
36	China	68.2	+0.1
37	Czechia	68.2	0
38	Croatia	68	-0.1
39	Jordan	67.9	+0.3
40	Estonia	67.9	+0.4
41	Panama	67.8	+0.1
42	Cuba	67.8	-0.3
43	Colombia	67.8	+0.2
44	Puerto Rico	67.8	-1.4
45	Qatar	67.7	+0.2
46	Montenegro	67.5	+0.1
47	Poland	67.5	-0.1
48	Nicaragua	67.4	+0.4
49	Thailand	67.4	+0.2
50	Ecuador	67.3	+0.1
51	Lebanon	67.2	+0.1
52	Bosnia and Herzegovina	67.1	+0.1
53	Uruguay	67.1	+0.3
54	Slovakia	67.1	-0
55	Brunei	67	-0
56	Türkiye	66.8	+0.3
57	Sri Lanka	66.7	+0.1
58	Argentina	66.6	+0.4
59	Barbados	66.5	0
60	North Macedonia	66.5	+0.3
61	Tunisia	66.3	+0.1
62	Iran	66.3	+0.1
63	Serbia	66.3	-0.1
64	Hungary	66.2	-0.1
65	Armenia	66.1	+0.6
66	Algeria	66.1	+0.1
67	Saudi Arabia	66	-0
68	United States	66	-0.1
69	Romania	65.9	+0.1
70	Azerbaijan	65.7	+0.5
71	Antigua and Barbuda	65.7	0
72	Saint Lucia	65.7	-0
73	Lithuania	65.6	+0.6
74	Bahrain	65.6	0
75	Latvia	65.5	0
76	Mexico	65.5	+0.1
77	Bulgaria	65.4	-0
78	Cape Verde	65.3	+0.1
79	Malaysia	65.3	-0
80	Vietnam	65.1	+0.2
81	Paraguay	65.1	+0.4
82	Belize	65	+0.1
83	Belarus	64.9	+0.3
84	Palestine	64.9	+0.4
85	Oman	64.7	+0.3
86	Georgia	64.6	+0.7
87	Tajikistan	64.4	+0.4
88	Seychelles	64.3	0
89	Mauritius	64.3	-0
90	Kyrgyzstan	64.2	+0.1
91	North Korea	64.2	+0.3
92	Brazil	64.1	+0.3
93	Moldova	64.1	+0.8
94	Trinidad and Tobago	64	+0.1
95	El Salvador	64	+0.2
96	Tonga	63.9	+0.1
97	Bahamas	63.9	+0.2
98	Bhutan	63.8	+0.2
99	Kazakhstan	63.8	+0.5
100	Dominican Republic	63.8	0
101	Jamaica	63.6	-0
102	Venezuela	63.6	+0.5
103	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	63.5	+0.1
104	Bangladesh	63.5	0
105	Ukraine	63.5	+0.3
106	Morocco	63.4	+0.1
107	Grenada	63.3	+0.1
108	Suriname	63.3	+0.1
109	Bolivia	63.3	+0.2
110	Russia	63.1	+0.7
111	Libya	63.1	+0.4
112	Indonesia	63	+0.2
113	São Tomé and Príncipe	62.6	+0.3
114	Guatemala	62.5	+0.4
115	Egypt	62.3	+0.4
116	Honduras	62.2	+0.2
117	Uzbekistan	62.2	+0.4
118	Mongolia	61.5	+0.4
119	Samoa	61.5	0
120	Philippines	61.4	+0.3
121	Mauritania	61.3	+0.1
122	Iraq	61.2	+0.4
123	Nepal	61.1	+0.2
124	Turkmenistan	61	0
125	Cambodia	60.9	+0.2
126	India	60.2	+0.3
127	Laos	60.1	+0.3
128	Myanmar	60	0
129	Timor-Leste	59.8	+0.1
130	Sudan	59.7	+0.3
131	Fiji	59.7	+0.1
132	Comoros	59.5	+0.1
133	Senegal	59.3	+0.3
134	Vanuatu	59.3	0
135	Ethiopia	59.3	+0.4
136	Rwanda	58.8	+0.2
137	Guyana	58.7	+0.5
138	Papua New Guinea	58.2	+0.2
139	Yemen	58	-0
140	Micronesia	57.9	+0.1
141	Solomon Islands	57.9	+0.1
142	Tanzania	57.6	+0.3
143	Kenya	57.5	+0.5
144	Pakistan	57.3	+0.3
145	Ghana	57.2	+0.3
146	Djibouti	57	+0.3
147	Uganda	56.8	+0.5
148	Gambia	56.1	+0.2
149	Gabon	56	+0.2
150	Madagascar	56	+0.1
151	Burundi	55.6	+0.4
152	South Africa	55.5	+0.7
153	Botswana	55.3	+0.8
154	Benin	55.2	+0.3
155	Eritrea	55.1	+0.3
156	Malawi	54.9	+0.3
157	Togo	54.9	+0.5
158	Republic of the Congo	54.7	+0.2
159	Haiti	54.6	+0.4
160	Namibia	54.6	+0.3
161	Kiribati	54.4	0
162	Côte d’Ivoire	54.3	+0.6
163	Burkina Faso	54.3	+0.5
164	Nigeria	54.2	+0.3
165	Angola	53.9	+0.2
166	Zambia	53.4	+0.3
167	Liberia	53.3	+0.3
168	Mali	53.2	+0.3
169	Cameroon	53.1	+0.7
170	Equatorial Guinea	53	+0.3
171	Niger	52.9	+0.3
172	Guinea	52.8	+0.3
173	Democratic Republic of the Congo	52.6	+0.4
174	Afghanistan	52	+0.4
175	Sierra Leone	51.6	+0.3
176	Syria	51.4	-0.8
177	Guinea-Bissau	51.2	+0.3
178	Zimbabwe	51.2	+0.3
179	Chad	51.1	+0.3
180	South Sudan	50.8	-0.3
181	Mozambique	49.7	+0.6
182	Somalia	47.8	+0.2
183	Eswatini	47	+0.6
184	Central African Republic	44.6	-0.2
185	Lesotho	44.5	+0.9

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.

Use this data in your AI agent

Invokely serves this figure to AI assistants through MCP and to code through a REST API, with the source and citation attached. Ask your assistant:

Rank Countries by healthy life expectancy at birth using official data, and cite the source.

rank_places {"indicator":"healthy_life_expectancy","level":"country","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=healthy_life_expectancy&level=country&limit=10

Connect Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor in one step. The trial answers 25 calls a day without an account.

Questions

Which country has the highest healthy life expectancy at birth?

Japan, with 73.4 years in 2017, according to World Health Organization.

Which country has the lowest healthy life expectancy at birth?

Lesotho, with 44.5 years in 2017.

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