Life expectancy in Guatemala

Guatemala: Life expectancy was 72.6 years in 2023. ▲ Rising

Latest (2023)
72.6 years
Change on year
up 2.0%
World rank
145th
of 236 countries
All-time high
72.6 years
in 2023
All-time low
24 years
in 1900
Years of data
80
1900–2023

Life expectancy in Guatemala, 1900–2023

203040506070190019612023

Source: Riley (2005); Zijdeman et al. (2015); HMD (2025); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in years.

Analysis

In 2023, life expectancy in Guatemala stood at 72.6 years. That is the highest value across all 80 years on record.

That represents a change of up 2.0% on the previous year and up 2.4% over ten years.

Over the whole period, life expectancy in Guatemala peaked at 72.6 years in 2023 and was at its lowest, 24 years, in 1900.

That places Guatemala 145th out of 236 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 80 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1900s 24 years 24 years 24 years 1
1910s 24 years 24 years 24 years 1
1920s 25.41 years 25 years 25.82 years 2
1930s 25 years 25 years 25 years 1
1940s 29 years 29 years 29 years 1
1950s 40.6 years 37.8 years 44.33 years 10
1960s 46.98 years 45.76 years 47.76 years 10
1970s 52.51 years 47.62 years 56.6 years 10
1980s 58.03 years 48.86 years 61.75 years 10
1990s 63.72 years 61.77 years 66.63 years 10
2000s 68.42 years 67.1 years 69.68 years 10
2010s 70.96 years 69.89 years 71.64 years 10
2020s 70.41 years 67.86 years 72.6 years 4

Countries ranked near Guatemala

  1. 142 Seychelles 72.86 years compare
  2. 143 American Samoa 72.85 years compare
  3. 144 Saint Lucia 72.7 years compare
  4. 146 Venezuela 72.51 years compare
  5. 147 Uzbekistan 72.39 years compare
  6. 148 Iraq 72.32 years compare

See the full ranking of 236 places →

More health data for Guatemala

All data for Guatemala →

Frequently asked questions

What is life expectancy in Guatemala?
Life expectancy in Guatemala was 72.6 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 Guatemala?
The highest recorded value was 72.6 years in 2023.
What is the lowest life expectancy recorded in Guatemala?
The lowest recorded value was 24 years in 1900.
How does Guatemala rank for life expectancy?
Guatemala ranks 145th out of 236 countries with data for 2023.
Is life expectancy rising or falling in Guatemala?
Over the last ten years it is up 2.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Guatemala 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 — 80 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.