Life Expectancy Almost Back To Pre-Covid Levels, Says WHO
The World Health Organization reports that global life expectancy has nearly returned to pre-pandemic levels, reaching 73.3 years in 2023. However, healthy life expectancy remains slightly below 2019 figures, and noncommunicable diseases like heart disease continue to be the leading causes of death.
Why it matters
This data highlights the ongoing recovery of global health systems while underscoring the persistent burden of chronic diseases in a post-Covid world.
Global life expectancy is close to the levels seen before the Covid-19 pandemic, but the outlook for years lived in good health is recovering more slowly, the WHO said Friday. Life expectancy reached 73.3 years in 2023 -- close to the 73.4 years recorded in 2019 before the pandemic struck, the World Health Organization said in its annual Global Health Estimates (GHE) report. The coronavirus crisis plunged global life expectancy down to 71.5 years in 2021. "Living longer is one of the great achievements of public health," said Alain Labrique, head of the WHO's data department. "The next challenge is to ensure that those additional years are lived in good health, while health systems adapt to respond to the changing needs of populations."
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