What is life expectancy in Germany?

Life expectancy in Germany was 81.38 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 Germany?

The highest recorded value was 81.38 years in 2023.

What is the lowest life expectancy recorded in Germany?

The lowest recorded value was 38.37 years in 1875.

How does Germany rank for life expectancy?

Germany ranks 45th out of 236 countries with data for 2023.

Is life expectancy rising or falling in Germany?

Over the last ten years it is up 1.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.

Where does this Germany 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.

Life expectancy in Germany

Name: Life expectancy in Germany
Creator: Riley (2005); Zijdeman et al. (2015); HMD (2025); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data
License: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)

Germany: Life expectancy was 81.38 years in 2023. ▲ Rising

Latest (2023)

81.38 years

Change on year

up 1.0%

World rank

45th

of 236 countries

All-time high

81.38 years

in 2023

All-time low

38.37 years

in 1875

Years of data

1875–2023

Life expectancy in Germany, 1875–2023

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 Germany is 81.38 years, measured in 2023. That is the highest value across all 83 years on record.

Compared with earlier readings it is up 1.0% on the previous year and up 1.1% over ten years.

Over the whole period, life expectancy in Germany peaked at 81.38 years in 2023 and was at its lowest, 38.37 years, in 1875.

That places Germany 45th out of 236 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the top quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 83 years of available data.

Averages by decade

Decade	Average	Lowest	Highest	Years
1870s	38.37 years	38.37 years	38.37 years	1
1880s	39.44 years	39.44 years	39.44 years	1
1890s	42.38 years	42.38 years	42.38 years	1
1900s	45.45 years	45.45 years	45.45 years	1
1910s	44.76 years	40.52 years	49 years	2
1920s	57.42 years	57.42 years	57.42 years	1
1930s	61.5 years	61.5 years	61.5 years	1
1940s	60.51 years	60.51 years	60.51 years	1
1950s	68.12 years	66.81 years	69.33 years	10
1960s	70.32 years	69.25 years	70.96 years	10
1970s	71.74 years	70.68 years	72.92 years	10
1980s	74.34 years	73.09 years	75.47 years	10
1990s	76.53 years	75.34 years	77.8 years	10
2000s	79.09 years	78.06 years	79.92 years	10
2010s	80.67 years	80.08 years	81.19 years	10
2020s	81.02 years	80.58 years	81.38 years	4

Countries ranked near Germany

42 Puerto Rico 81.69 years compare
43 Cyprus 81.65 years compare
44 Slovenia 81.6 years compare
46 United Kingdom 81.3 years compare
47 Bahrain 81.28 years compare
48 Chile 81.17 years compare

See the full ranking of 236 places →

More health data for Germany

Age population, age 18, female, interpolated 376,419 (2025)
Age population, age 20, female, interpolated 387,265 (2025)
Age population, age 19, male, interpolated 401,231 (2025)
Age population, age 19, female, interpolated 378,303 (2025)
Age population, age 18, male, interpolated 399,494 (2025)
Population ages 65 and above, female 10.99 million (2025)
Age population, age 17, male, interpolated 401,149 (2025)
Population ages 65 and above, female 26.0% (2025)
Age population, age 20, male, interpolated 410,086 (2025)
Population ages 65 and above 23.7% (2025)

All data for Germany →

Frequently asked questions

What is life expectancy in Germany?: Life expectancy in Germany was 81.38 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 Germany?: The highest recorded value was 81.38 years in 2023.
What is the lowest life expectancy recorded in Germany?: The lowest recorded value was 38.37 years in 1875.
How does Germany rank for life expectancy?: Germany ranks 45th out of 236 countries with data for 2023.
Is life expectancy rising or falling in Germany?: Over the last ten years it is up 1.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Germany 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 — 83 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: 06 August 2026

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.