Global life expectancy rises to 73.8 years, but people spend 10.7 of them in poor health, Lancet study finds

The widening gap

Global life expectancy at birth climbed from 64.6 years in 1990 to 73.8 years in 2023, a gain of nearly a decade. Healthy life expectancy rose more slowly, from 55.9 to 63.1 years, an increase of 7.2 years. The result is a growing "disease gap": the years people live in poor health. In 1990, the average person spent 8.8 years in poor health, or 13.6% of their life. By 2023, that figure had risen to 10.7 years, or 14.5% of life.

Progress in healthy aging should be measured not just by lifespan but by healthspan.

The research team, led by Christopher Murray at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington in Seattle, analysed data from 204 countries and regions. Their findings, published in The Lancet Public Health, show the disease gap is most pronounced in wealthy countries where people live longest.

Country-level disparities

The United States recorded the largest gap at 14 years, followed by Australia at 13.9 years and Canada at 13.7 years. In sub-Saharan Africa, the gap was only 9 years. Germany saw its life expectancy rise from 75.6 years in 1990 to 80.9 years in 2023, while its disease gap widened from 10.1 years to 11.9 years. The research group noted that as life expectancy increases, an increasing number of years are spent in poor health.

Women bear a heavier burden

Women live longer than men almost everywhere, but they spend more of those extra years in poor health. In 2023, the global disease gap for women averaged 12.1 years, compared to 9.3 years for men.

Women live longer than men almost everywhere in the world, but they spend more of those additional years in poor health.

In Germany, the Federal Statistical Office reported that life expectancy at birth in the past year was 79.1 years for men and 83.6 years for women.

Preventable drivers

Musculoskeletal problems, particularly lower back pain, and mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety disorders had a particularly strong influence on the disease gap. The research team wrote that many of these illnesses are preventable, pointing to high blood sugar levels, overweight, malnutrition, and smoking as contributing factors.

The study underscores that gains in longevity have not been matched by equivalent gains in healthy years, leaving health systems and individuals to manage a growing burden of chronic, often preventable conditions.