What is life expectancy in Ireland?

Life expectancy in Ireland was 82.41 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 Ireland?

The highest recorded value was 82.41 years in 2023.

What is the lowest life expectancy recorded in Ireland?

The lowest recorded value was 49.4 years in 1901.

How does Ireland rank for life expectancy?

Ireland ranks 28th out of 236 countries with data for 2023.

Is life expectancy rising or falling in Ireland?

Over the last ten years it is up 1.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.

Where does this Ireland 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 Ireland

Name: Life expectancy in Ireland
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)

Ireland: Life expectancy was 82.41 years in 2023. ▲ Rising

Latest (2023)

82.41 years

Change on year

up 0.4%

World rank

28th

of 236 countries

All-time high

82.41 years

in 2023

All-time low

49.4 years

in 1901

Years of data

1901–2023

Life expectancy in Ireland, 1901–2023

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 Ireland stood at 82.41 years. That is the highest value across all 80 years on record.

That represents a change of up 0.4% on the previous year and up 1.7% over ten years.

Over the whole period, life expectancy in Ireland peaked at 82.41 years in 2023 and was at its lowest, 49.4 years, in 1901.

That places Ireland 28th out of 236 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the top quarter.

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

Averages by decade

Decade	Average	Lowest	Highest	Years
1900s	49.4 years	49.4 years	49.4 years	1
1910s	53.8 years	53.8 years	53.8 years	1
1920s	57.6 years	57.6 years	57.6 years	1
1930s	58.9 years	58.9 years	58.9 years	1
1940s	60.7 years	60 years	61.4 years	2
1950s	67.81 years	64.75 years	69.42 years	10
1960s	70.41 years	69.64 years	71.2 years	10
1970s	71.52 years	70.83 years	72.18 years	10
1980s	73.58 years	72.54 years	74.45 years	10
1990s	75.59 years	74.84 years	76.18 years	10
2000s	78.53 years	76.53 years	80.1 years	10
2010s	81.45 years	80.6 years	82.41 years	10
2020s	82.18 years	81.86 years	82.41 years	4

Countries ranked near Ireland

25 Iceland 82.69 years compare
26 Canada 82.63 years compare
27 Martinique 82.57 years compare
29 Israel 82.41 years compare
30 Qatar 82.37 years compare
31 Portugal 82.36 years compare

See the full ranking of 236 places →

More health data for Ireland

Population ages 65 and above, total 888,912 (2025)
Age population, age 15, female, interpolated 36,900 (2025)
Age population, age 14, male, interpolated 38,212 (2025)
Age population, age 14, female, interpolated 36,696 (2025)
Age population, age 13, male, interpolated 37,423 (2025)
Population ages 65 and above 16.2% (2025)
Age population, age 12, female, interpolated 34,645 (2025)
Age population, age 11, female, interpolated 33,549 (2025)
Age population, age 11, male, interpolated 35,370 (2025)
Age population, age 15, male, interpolated 38,522 (2025)

All data for Ireland →

Frequently asked questions

What is life expectancy in Ireland?: Life expectancy in Ireland was 82.41 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 Ireland?: The highest recorded value was 82.41 years in 2023.
What is the lowest life expectancy recorded in Ireland?: The lowest recorded value was 49.4 years in 1901.
How does Ireland rank for life expectancy?: Ireland ranks 28th out of 236 countries with data for 2023.
Is life expectancy rising or falling in Ireland?: Over the last ten years it is up 1.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Ireland 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: 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.