Key points
- Life expectancy is the years a newborn could expect to live; healthy life expectancy (HALE) is the years expected in full health (WHO).
- Globally the gap was about 9.5 years in 2021 and about 10.5 equivalent years in 2023 — years lived in less than full health, not years every person spends ill.
- People in the country with the highest life expectancy live on average 33 years longer than those in the country with the lowest (WHO, 2025).
- COVID-19 cut global life expectancy by 1.8 years between 2019 and 2021, to 71.4 years — erasing a decade of gains (WHO).
Direct answer: Life expectancy is the number of years a newborn could expect to live if current mortality patterns stayed the same. Healthy life expectancy — HALE — is the number of those years expected to be lived in full health. The difference between the two is the years lived in less than full health: globally about 9.5 years in 2021, and about 10.5 equivalent years in 2023. The two numbers answer different questions, and confusing them is the most common mistake in this area.
Two numbers, not one
WHO defines healthy life expectancy (HALE) at birth as “the average number of years that a person could expect to live in ‘full health’ from birth”, taking into account years lived in less than full health due to disease and/or injury. Life expectancy counts all years; HALE counts only the years in full health. The gap — life expectancy minus HALE — is the equivalent years lived in less than full health.
The gap — and what it is not
The gap is a population measure, not a personal one. Globally, WHO’s World Health Statistics 2024 put life expectancy at 71.4 years in 2021 and HALE at 61.9 years — a gap of about 9.5 years. WHO’s October 2026 Global Health Estimates release put global life expectancy at 73.3 years in 2023, with HALE at 62.8 years — a gap of about 10.5 equivalent years. The gap is an equivalent-health-loss measure: it does not mean every person spends 10 years ill. Some people live their whole lives in good health; others live many years with chronic conditions. The average hides both.
Why life expectancy differs by country
The differences are mainly social, not biological: where people are born, grow, live, work and age. WHO’s World Report on Social Determinants of Health Equity (launched 6 May 2025) found that people in the country with the highest life expectancy live on average 33 years longer than those in the country with the lowest. Children born in low-income countries have a life expectancy of about 63 years, against about 81 in high-income countries, and children in poorer countries are 13 times more likely to die before age five. Income, education, housing, work and discrimination move the number far more than any single medical factor — which is why the same country can show gaps of decades between its own regions and social groups.
What COVID did
Between 2019 and 2021, global life expectancy fell 1.8 years to 71.4 years — the level of 2012 — and healthy life expectancy fell 1.5 years to 61.9 years. In just two years, the COVID-19 pandemic erased a decade of gains in life expectancy (WHO Director-General, quoted in World Health Statistics 2024). COVID-19 was the third highest cause of death globally in 2020 and the second in 2021. The Americas and South-East Asia were worst hit, losing about three years of life expectancy. By 2023 life expectancy had nearly recovered, at 73.3 years — close to the 73.4 years recorded in 2019 — but it was still below pre-pandemic levels in 13 OECD countries.
Infant mortality by country
The infant mortality rate — infant deaths before the first birthday per 1,000 live births in a given year — is one of the sharpest single indicators behind the life-expectancy gap. It is published by country in the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME) data. Rates vary enormously by country, so the table below gives dated country figures rather than one number.
| Country | Infant mortality rate, 2023 (per 1,000 live births) |
|---|---|
| Japan | 1.8 |
| Singapore | 2.1 |
| United States | 5.5 |
| India | 24.5 |
| Sierra Leone | 56.3 |
| Nigeria | 70.1 |
Source: UN IGME estimates, 2023. Globally, the infant mortality rate fell from 65 to 27 per 1,000 live births between 1990 and 2023 (UN IGME). The range in the table — from under 2 to over 70 — is the same story as the 33-year life-expectancy gap, told in a single indicator.
Frequently asked questions
Is healthy life expectancy the same as life expectancy?
No. Life expectancy is the total years a newborn could expect to live; healthy life expectancy (HALE) is the years expected in full health, taking into account years lived in less than full health due to disease or injury (WHO).
Does the gap mean years every person spends ill?
No. The gap is an equivalent-health-loss measure for a whole population: life expectancy minus HALE. It does not mean every person spends that many years ill.
Why did life expectancy fall during COVID?
Between 2019 and 2021 global life expectancy fell 1.8 years to 71.4 years and HALE fell 1.5 years to 61.9 years (WHO World Health Statistics 2024). COVID-19 was the third highest cause of death globally in 2020 and the second in 2021.