About this chart race
In 1960 the longest-living country in this chart was Norway, at 73.5 years, with the Netherlands and Sweden alongside it. Northern Europe held the lead for nearly two decades. Japan was well behind them on 67.7 years — closer to the middle of the field than the top.
Japan took first place in 1978 and has held it or shared it ever since, reaching 84.0 years in 2024. Its only real rival has been Hong Kong, which has traded the lead with Japan repeatedly since 2001 and stands highest in this chart at 85.4 years. Switzerland, Sweden, Italy, Spain and South Korea are all now within a year of Japan.
The most striking line belongs to Russia, and it goes the wrong way. Russian life expectancy fell from 68.9 years in 1990 to 64.5 in 1994 as the Soviet Union broke up — more than four years lost in four — and did not recover its 1990 level until the 2010s. It reached 73.1 years in 2019, fell to 69.9 in 2021 during the pandemic, and has since climbed back to 73.4.
A note on who is included: this race covers countries with at least five million people. Several micro-states report higher figures than anyone here, but with populations in the tens of thousands a handful of deaths moves their number by a year, so those estimates are too unstable to race against national ones.
This animated ranking shows how life expectancy at birth changed across 33 series between 1960 and 2024. The bars re-order themselves as the years advance, so overtakes are visible as they happen rather than hidden inside a table. Use the list on the left to choose exactly who competes, drag the slider to jump to any year, or open the table view to read the underlying numbers.
As of 2024, Hong Kong SAR, China leads with 85.4 years.
Included in this race
Hong Kong SAR, China, Japan, Switzerland, Sweden, Italy, Spain, Singapore, Korea, Rep., Australia, Norway, Israel, United Arab Emirates, Ireland, France, Portugal, Belgium, New Zealand, Finland, Denmark, Canada, Netherlands, Austria, Greece, United Kingdom, Germany, Costa Rica, Czechia, United States, Slovak Republic, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Belarus, Russian Federation.
Source
Data from World Bank — World Development Indicators. Check the stated period and methodology. Animated transitions between source observations are visual interpolation, not additional measurements.
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