Statizoid

Life expectancy in France

France: Life expectancy was 83.33 years in 2023. ▲ Rising

Latest (2023)
83.33 years
Change on year
up 1.0%
World rank
17th
of 236 countries
All-time high
83.33 years
in 2023
All-time low
29.74 years
in 1871
Years of data
208
1816–2023

Life expectancy in France, 1816–2023

020406080181619192023

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 France is 83.33 years, measured in 2023. That is the highest value across all 208 years on record.

The figure is up 1.0% on the previous year and up 1.6% over ten years.

Over the whole period, life expectancy in France peaked at 83.33 years in 2023 and was at its lowest, 29.74 years, in 1871.

France ranks 17th of 236 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 208 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1810s 38.81 years 37.32 years 40.1 years 4
1820s 38.96 years 37.6 years 40.04 years 10
1830s 39.05 years 35.09 years 42 years 10
1840s 40.53 years 35.95 years 43.61 years 10
1850s 39.76 years 35.33 years 43.31 years 10
1860s 41.63 years 40.2 years 43.34 years 10
1870s 41.33 years 29.74 years 44.29 years 10
1880s 43.57 years 42.46 years 45.54 years 10
1890s 45.2 years 43.43 years 47.88 years 10
1900s 48.03 years 45.1 years 50.01 years 10
1910s 44.2 years 34.84 years 51.55 years 10
1920s 54.29 years 51.82 years 55.74 years 10
1930s 58.15 years 56.8 years 59.55 years 10
1940s 57.69 years 47.17 years 65.78 years 10
1950s 68.15 years 66.1 years 70.17 years 10
1960s 71.02 years 70.32 years 71.51 years 10
1970s 72.95 years 72.07 years 74.12 years 10
1980s 75.33 years 74.23 years 76.54 years 10
1990s 77.8 years 76.84 years 78.75 years 10
2000s 80.17 years 79.04 years 81.16 years 10
2010s 82.16 years 81.4 years 82.73 years 10
2020s 82.58 years 82.2 years 83.33 years 4

Countries ranked near France

  1. 14 Liechtenstein 83.63 years compare
  2. 15 Gibraltar 83.55 years compare
  3. 16 Reunion 83.55 years compare
  4. 18 Norway 83.31 years compare
  5. 19 Malta 83.3 years compare
  6. 20 Guernsey 83.27 years compare

See the full ranking of 236 places →

More health data for France

All data for France →

Frequently asked questions

What is life expectancy in France?
Life expectancy in France was 83.33 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 France?
The highest recorded value was 83.33 years in 2023.
What is the lowest life expectancy recorded in France?
The lowest recorded value was 29.74 years in 1871.
How does France rank for life expectancy?
France ranks 17th out of 236 countries with data for 2023.
Is life expectancy rising or falling in France?
Over the last ten years it is up 1.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this France 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 — 208 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Life expectancy
Unit
years
Source
Riley (2005); Zijdeman et al. (2015); HMD (2025); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
236 places, 19,452 data points, 1543–2023
Last refreshed

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.