Articles
Original stories using population data, life tables and published research to examine how and why longevity differs. All 10 are built on the same validated WHO Global Health Estimates used everywhere else on this site.
Featured · Countries
Life expectancy differs by roughly 33 years between the extremes of the WHO dataset — but the gap looks very different once age enters the picture.
8 min read
Healthspan
Long-lived populations gain more healthy years than others — and their absolute gap between total years and healthy years also tends to be wider.
7 min read
Healthspan by countryAge
Nigeria and Norway are nearly two decades apart at birth. Among people who have reached the 80–84 age band, the difference narrows to 1.9 years.
8 min read
Life expectancy at 65Sex and longevity
Women live longer than men in 184 of 185 countries. The size of the advantage runs from about one year to ten, and that variation is the story.
8 min read
Years ahead explorerThe long view
Life expectancy gains have slowed in the longest-lived populations. Whether that means a ceiling is a very different question from whether it happened.
9 min read
Can humans extend lifespan?Rankings
All 185 countries and areas, searchable and sortable: WHO 2023 life expectancy, female and male figures, healthy years and a separate archived 2021 analysis.
7 min read
Why longevity differs between countriesAge 65
Remaining years at 65 run from 9.8 to 22.3 across countries. What WHO life tables show about reaching 80 and 85, by country and sex.
6 min read
Life expectancy calculatorMethod
A life table can be exact about a population and still uncertain about you. What a calculator's number means, and what it cannot know.
7 min read
Years Ahead ExplorerAgeing science
Biological age is not one measurement but several, built on different targets. What the research supports, and where the claims run ahead of it.
6 min read
Can humans extend lifespan?Fitness
Measured fitness tracks closely with mortality risk. What the major studies found, what relative risk means, and why a watch estimate is not a lab test.
6 min read
Cardiorespiratory fitness
