Life expectancy at birth, total in OECD members
OECD members: Life expectancy at birth, total was 80.4 years in 2024. ▲ Rising
Life expectancy at birth, total in OECD members, 1960–2024
Source: World Population Prospects, United Nations (UN). Measured in years.
Analysis
In 2024, life expectancy at birth, total in OECD members stood at 80.4 years. That is the highest value across all 65 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 0.3% on the previous year and up 0.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, life expectancy at birth, total in OECD members peaked at 80.4 years in 2024 and was at its lowest, 67.21 years, in 1960.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 65 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 68.24 years | 67.21 years | 69.04 years | 10 |
| 1970s | 70.68 years | 69.34 years | 72.09 years | 10 |
| 1980s | 73.34 years | 72.15 years | 74.38 years | 10 |
| 1990s | 75.51 years | 74.54 years | 76.49 years | 10 |
| 2000s | 77.86 years | 76.82 years | 78.87 years | 10 |
| 2010s | 79.71 years | 79.05 years | 80.24 years | 10 |
| 2020s | 79.52 years | 78.59 years | 80.4 years | 5 |
More health data for OECD members
- Population, male 692.67 million (2025)
- Population ages 0-14, male 17.0% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14, male 118.07 million (2025)
- Population ages 0-14, female 15.9% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14, female 112.57 million (2025)
- Population ages 65 and above 19.0% (2025)
- Population, male 49.4% (2025)
- Age dependency ratio 55.3% (2025)
- Age dependency ratio, old 29.5% (2025)
- Population, female 709.58 million (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is life expectancy at birth, total in OECD members?
- Life expectancy at birth, total in OECD members was 80.4 years in 2024, according to World Population Prospects, United Nations (UN).
- What is the highest life expectancy at birth, total recorded in OECD members?
- The highest recorded value was 80.4 years in 2024.
- What is the lowest life expectancy at birth, total recorded in OECD members?
- The lowest recorded value was 67.21 years in 1960.
- Is life expectancy at birth, total rising or falling in OECD members?
- Over the last ten years it is up 0.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this OECD members data come from?
- The figures come from World Population Prospects, United Nations (UN), published as part of Life expectancy at birth, total (years). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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CSV · JSON — 65 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Life expectancy at birth indicates the number of years a newborn infant would live if prevailing patterns of mortality at the time of its birth were to stay the same throughout its life.