Healthy Life Expectancy at Birth
Singapore leads healthy life expectancy at 73.6 years while the US ranks 71st behind countries like Iran and Malaysia.
Summary
5 Healthiest Countries by Health
5 Least Healthy Countries by Health
Outlier
71st
US underperforms with massive health spending
Leader
1.9 year
East Asia dominates healthy longevity rankings
Gap
29.01
Nearly 3-decade gap between top and bottom
Data
183 results
| 1 | Singapore | 73.6 |
| 2 | Japan | 73.4 |
| 3 | South Korea | 72.5 |
| 4 | Iceland | 71.4 |
| 5 | Luxembourg | 71.2 |
| 6 | Norway | 71.2 |
| 7 | Switzerland | 71.1 |
| 8 | Sweden | 71.1 |
| 9 | Spain | 71.1 |
| 10 | Israel | 70.8 |
Map
Healthy Life Expectancy at Birth
Insights
Generated automatically using AIOutlier
71st
US ranks 71st in healthy life expectancy despite highest healthcare spending
Leader
1.9 year
East Asian nations occupy top 3 spots with Singapore leading by narrow margin
Gap
29.01
Singapore's healthy lifespan exceeds bottom-ranked Lesotho by 29 years
Cluster
8 of 10
European nations claim 8 of top 10 positions after Asian leaders
Trailing
45-55
Bottom 10 African nations cluster between 45-55 years healthy lifespan
Methodology
What this measures: Healthy Life Expectancy at Birth represents the average number of years a newborn can expect to live in good health, free from disease and disability. Higher values indicate populations can expect more years of healthy living.
How the data is collected: Data is compiled by the World Health Organization using national health statistics and demographic data from member countries.
How the ranking is computed: Countries are ranked from highest to lowest healthy life expectancy values, with higher values ranking better.
Coverage: 167 countries with data available for 2000 and 2021.
Limitations:
Health definitions and measurement standards may vary between countries
Data quality depends on each country's health monitoring systems and reporting accuracy
Limited time points may not capture recent trends or temporary health shocks
Does not indicate causation for differences in healthy life expectancy between countries
May not reflect within-country inequalities across different population groups
Source
World Health Organization - Healthy Life Expectancy at Birth