Life expectancy in India
India: Life expectancy was 72 years in 2023. ▲ Rising
Life expectancy in India, 1881–2023
Source: Riley (2005); Zijdeman et al. (2015); HMD (2025); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in years.
Analysis
In 2023, life expectancy in India stood at 72 years. That is the highest value across all 85 years on record.
That represents a change of up 0.4% on the previous year and up 5.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, life expectancy in India peaked at 72 years in 2023 and was at its lowest, 23.15 years, in 1911.
India ranks 152nd of 236 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 85 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 25.44 years | 25.44 years | 25.44 years | 1 |
| 1890s | 24.27 years | 24.27 years | 24.27 years | 1 |
| 1900s | 23.73 years | 23.49 years | 23.98 years | 2 |
| 1910s | 23.58 years | 23.15 years | 24.02 years | 2 |
| 1920s | 26.23 years | 24.86 years | 27.61 years | 2 |
| 1930s | 30.13 years | 29.31 years | 30.95 years | 2 |
| 1940s | 32.59 years | 32.59 years | 32.59 years | 1 |
| 1950s | 43.28 years | 41.18 years | 45.26 years | 10 |
| 1960s | 46.46 years | 45.56 years | 48.26 years | 10 |
| 1970s | 50.59 years | 48.59 years | 53.01 years | 10 |
| 1980s | 56 years | 53.59 years | 58.2 years | 10 |
| 1990s | 60.44 years | 58.62 years | 62.28 years | 10 |
| 2000s | 64.72 years | 62.75 years | 66.7 years | 10 |
| 2010s | 69.06 years | 67.16 years | 70.75 years | 10 |
| 2020s | 70.28 years | 67.28 years | 72 years | 4 |
Countries ranked near India
- 149 Saint Kitts and Nevis 72.14 years compare
- 150 Syria 72.12 years compare
- 151 El Salvador 72.1 years compare
- 153 Tajikistan 71.79 years compare
- 154 Mongolia 71.73 years compare
- 155 Samoa 71.7 years compare
More health data for India
- Age population, age 14, female, interpolated 12.00 million (2025)
- Age population, age 16, female, interpolated 12.07 million (2025)
- Age dependency ratio, old 10.8% (2025)
- Age population, age 15, male, interpolated 13.27 million (2025)
- Age population, age 15, female, interpolated 12.07 million (2025)
- Age population, age 14, male, interpolated 13.19 million (2025)
- Age population, age 13, female, interpolated 11.95 million (2025)
- Age population, age 12, female, interpolated 11.85 million (2025)
- Age population, age 12, male, interpolated 12.97 million (2025)
- Age population, age 16, male, interpolated 13.27 million (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is life expectancy in India?
- Life expectancy in India was 72 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 India?
- The highest recorded value was 72 years in 2023.
- What is the lowest life expectancy recorded in India?
- The lowest recorded value was 23.15 years in 1911.
- How does India rank for life expectancy?
- India ranks 152nd out of 236 countries with data for 2023.
- Is life expectancy rising or falling in India?
- Over the last ten years it is up 5.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this India 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 — 85 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.