Life expectancy in Cameroon
Cameroon: Life expectancy was 63.7 years in 2023. ▲ Rising
Life expectancy in Cameroon, 1931–2023
Source: Riley (2005); Zijdeman et al. (2015); HMD (2025); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in years.
Analysis
The most recent figure for life expectancy in Cameroon is 63.7 years, measured in 2023. That is the highest value across all 75 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 2.0% on the previous year and up 8.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, life expectancy in Cameroon peaked at 63.7 years in 2023 and was at its lowest, 28.75 years, in 1931.
That places Cameroon 214th out of 236 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 75 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1930s | 28.75 years | 28.75 years | 28.75 years | 1 |
| 1950s | 36.67 years | 33.09 years | 39.8 years | 10 |
| 1960s | 42.73 years | 34.67 years | 47.19 years | 10 |
| 1970s | 49.58 years | 47.95 years | 50.54 years | 10 |
| 1980s | 52.92 years | 50.85 years | 54.39 years | 10 |
| 1990s | 53.58 years | 53.04 years | 54.35 years | 10 |
| 2000s | 54.82 years | 53.34 years | 56.49 years | 10 |
| 2010s | 59.42 years | 56.97 years | 61.7 years | 10 |
| 2020s | 62.24 years | 61.15 years | 63.7 years | 4 |
Countries ranked near Cameroon
- 211 Eswatini 64.12 years compare
- 212 Guinea-Bissau 64.08 years compare
- 213 Equatorial Guinea 63.71 years compare
- 215 Burundi 63.65 years compare
- 216 Kenya 63.65 years compare
- 217 Madagascar 63.63 years compare
More health data for Cameroon
- Age population, age 12, male, interpolated 365,037 (2025)
- Age population, age 15, female, interpolated 340,577 (2025)
- Age population, age 14, male, interpolated 350,476 (2025)
- Age population, age 14, female, interpolated 347,565 (2025)
- Age population, age 13, male, interpolated 357,693 (2025)
- Age population, age 13, female, interpolated 354,162 (2025)
- Age population, age 11, female, interpolated 368,098 (2025)
- Age population, age 10, female, interpolated 379,332 (2025)
- Age population, age 10, male, interpolated 384,592 (2025)
- Age population, age 15, male, interpolated 342,934 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is life expectancy in Cameroon?
- Life expectancy in Cameroon was 63.7 years in 2023, according to Riley (2005); Zijdeman et al. (2015); HMD (2025); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest life expectancy recorded in Cameroon?
- The highest recorded value was 63.7 years in 2023.
- What is the lowest life expectancy recorded in Cameroon?
- The lowest recorded value was 28.75 years in 1931.
- How does Cameroon rank for life expectancy?
- Cameroon ranks 214th out of 236 countries with data for 2023.
- Is life expectancy rising or falling in Cameroon?
- Over the last ten years it is up 8.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Cameroon data come from?
- The figures come from Riley (2005); Zijdeman et al. (2015); HMD (2025); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Life expectancy. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 75 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Period life expectancy is the number of years the average person born in a certain year would live if they experienced the same chances of dying at each age as people did that year.