Healthspan

Living longer is only half the story.

Life expectancy tells us how long people live. Healthy life expectancy asks a different question: how many of those years are expected to be lived in full health?

This page compares the two, country by country, using WHO's population-level estimates at the only two ages WHO publishes both: at birth and at age 60. How this is calculated.

Two women, one in her seventies and one much younger, working side by side over a garden bed in afternoon sunlight. — Healthspan is a question about participation: how many years a person can expect to spend doing the ordinary things a day asks of them.

Life expectancy

Expected years of life, however they are lived.

Healthy life expectancy

Expected years of life in full health, under WHO's weighting method.

Subtracting one from the other gives the healthspan gap: expected time lived in less than full health.

Country

Sex

United States of America

76.4years
Life expectancy at birth: 63.9years
Healthy life expectancy at birth: 12.5years
Healthspan gap

United States of America, all, at birth. WHO Global Health Estimates, data year 2021.

At birth

Healthy years

Total years

Life expectancy: 76.4 years
Healthy life expectancy: 63.9 years
Difference: 12.5 years

Remaining years at age 60

Healthy years

Total years

Life expectancy: 22.0 years
Healthy life expectancy: 15.7 years
Difference: 6.3 years

The filled bar is healthy life expectancy; the lighter remainder is the rest of expected life. WHO publishes these two ages only, so no other age is shown — deriving one would mean inventing a value.

Every country compared

Sorted by life expectancy at birth. Search to find a country.

Showing 185 of 185 countries. Swipe the table sideways to see all columns.

Life expectancy and healthy life expectancy at birth by country
#	Life expectancy	Healthy	Difference
1	84.5	73.4	11.1
2	83.9	73.6	10.2
3	83.8	72.5	11.3
4	83.3	71.1	12.2
5	83.1	70.6	12.5
6	82.9	71.2	11.7
7	82.8	71.2	11.5
8	82.7	71.1	11.5
9	82.7	71.1	11.6
10	82.6	71.4	11.2
11	82.2	70.0	12.2
12	82.2	70.6	11.6
13	81.9	70.1	11.8
14	81.9	70.7	11.2
15	81.8	70.7	11.1
16	81.7	70.8	11.0
17	81.6	70.0	11.6
18	81.6	69.8	11.8
19	81.5	69.9	11.6
20	81.5	69.8	11.7
21	81.2	70.1	11.1
22	81.2	69.5	11.7
23	81.1	70.0	11.2
24	81.0	69.8	11.2
25	80.5	68.9	11.6
26	80.4	69.4	11.1
27	80.1	68.6	11.5
28	79.9	68.8	11.1
29	79.6	68.6	11.0
30	79.0	67.7	11.4
31	79.0	67.8	11.2
32	78.6	67.6	11.0
33	78.3	67.3	11.0
34	77.6	68.6	9.0
35	77.2	66.7	10.5
36	77.2	66.7	10.5
37	77.1	66.7	10.4
38	77.1	66.7	10.4
39	76.9	67.1	9.8
40	76.9	66.5	10.4
41	76.9	66.8	10.1
42	76.8	66.7	10.2
43	76.7	66.2	10.5
44	76.4	65.6	10.8
45	76.4	66.7	9.7
46	76.4	63.9	12.5
47	76.0	65.5	10.4
48	75.6	65.1	10.6
49	75.4	65.5	9.9
50	75.4	66.7	8.7
51	75.3	65.8	9.5
52	75.3	65.2	10.1
53	75.0	64.6	10.4
54	75.0	65.0	10.0
55	74.9	64.8	10.1
56	74.8	65.0	9.9
57	74.7	64.0	10.7
58	74.7	65.1	9.6
59	74.6	64.8	9.8
60	74.5	65.0	9.5
61	74.5	64.9	9.6
62	74.4	64.8	9.6
63	74.4	64.2	10.1
64	74.3	63.2	11.1
65	74.1	64.2	9.9
66	74.1	63.6	10.5
67	74.0	64.7	9.3
68	74.0	64.3	9.6
69	73.8	65.4	8.4
70	73.7	64.6	9.1
71	73.5	62.9	10.6
72	73.4	63.6	9.8
73	73.3	63.6	9.8
74	73.3	63.8	9.5
75	73.2	63.8	9.4
76	73.2	63.8	9.4
77	73.1	63.7	9.4
78	73.1	63.1	10.1
79	73.0	63.7	9.3
80	73.0	64.0	9.0
81	72.9	64.0	8.9
82	72.8	63.9	8.9
83	72.8	63.9	8.9
84	72.8	63.2	9.6
85	72.8	63.8	8.9
86	72.7	63.8	8.9
87	72.6	64.7	7.9
88	72.6	62.3	10.3
89	72.6	62.9	9.7
90	72.5	63.2	9.3
91	72.4	62.3	10.2
92	72.4	61.8	10.6
93	72.2	63.4	8.8
94	72.2	63.4	8.8
95	72.2	62.1	10.1
96	71.8	63.1	8.7
97	71.7	61.9	9.8
98	71.7	63.0	8.7
99	71.7	62.2	9.5
100	71.5	61.0	10.5
101	71.3	62.4	8.9
102	71.2	62.5	8.8
103	71.2	62.0	9.2
104	71.2	62.4	8.7
105	71.1	61.8	9.4
106	70.9	61.6	9.4
107	70.8	61.4	9.4
108	70.4	61.5	8.9
109	70.3	61.6	8.7
110	70.3	61.6	8.7
111	70.3	60.9	9.4
112	70.1	61.7	8.4
113	70.1	61.3	8.8
114	70.0	60.2	9.8
115	70.0	60.9	9.1
116	69.8	60.3	9.5
117	69.6	61.2	8.3
118	69.1	60.8	8.3
119	69.1	60.4	8.7
120	69.0	60.0	8.9
121	68.9	60.6	8.3
122	68.9	60.4	8.5
123	68.7	59.3	9.4
124	68.3	60.7	7.6
125	68.2	60.4	7.8
126	68.0	59.5	8.5
127	67.8	59.8	8.1
128	67.8	58.8	9.0
129	67.8	58.9	8.9
130	67.6	58.5	9.0
131	67.5	58.7	8.8
132	67.5	59.0	8.5
133	67.3	58.1	9.2
134	66.8	58.1	8.7
135	66.8	58.2	8.5
136	66.4	58.8	7.6
137	66.3	58.7	7.7
138	66.1	57.9	8.2
139	66.1	56.8	9.3
140	66.0	56.9	9.1
141	66.0	57.2	8.8
142	65.8	56.5	9.3
143	65.7	57.9	7.8
144	65.5	57.7	7.8
145	65.5	57.5	8.0
146	65.4	57.4	8.0
147	65.1	56.3	8.8
148	64.9	57.0	7.9
149	64.8	57.4	7.4
150	64.2	55.8	8.4
151	64.0	55.7	8.3
152	64.0	55.8	8.2
153	63.9	55.8	8.0
154	63.6	55.4	8.1
155	63.5	55.4	8.1
156	63.5	54.0	9.5
157	63.4	54.9	8.4
158	63.2	54.8	8.3
159	62.9	55.1	7.8
160	62.5	54.7	7.8
161	62.5	53.9	8.5
162	62.3	54.6	7.7
163	62.1	53.8	8.4
164	61.8	54.0	7.8
165	61.7	53.6	8.1
166	61.6	53.2	8.4
167	61.6	53.3	8.3
168	61.5	52.8	8.7
169	61.3	53.4	7.8
170	61.2	53.1	8.1
171	61.0	53.1	7.9
172	61.0	53.0	8.0
173	60.9	53.6	7.2
174	60.4	52.8	7.5
175	60.0	52.6	7.4
176	59.1	50.4	8.7
177	59.1	51.5	7.6
178	58.6	51.5	7.2
179	58.6	50.5	8.0
180	58.5	51.2	7.2
181	57.7	49.7	7.9
182	54.6	47.5	7.1
183	54.0	47.4	6.5
184	52.3	45.4	6.9
185	51.5	44.6	6.8

Values shown in years. Highest life expectancy at the top. Maximum shown: 84.5 years.

Source, data year and method

WHO Global Health Observatory — Global Health Estimates · 2021 data · population-level estimates · retrieved 2026-09-09

HALE adjusts life expectancy for years lived in less than full health, weighted by the severity of health states in the Global Health Estimates.

WHOSIS_000001 — life expectancy at birth
WHOSIS_000015 — life expectancy at age 60
WHOSIS_000002 — healthy life expectancy (HALE) at birth
WHOSIS_000007 — healthy life expectancy (HALE) at age 60
HALE is published at birth and at age 60 only. No HALE value is derived for any other age.

In plain English

Healthy life expectancy (HALE): Expected years of life, with time spent in illness or disability discounted by how severe those health states are estimated to be.Why it matters: It is the closest published measure to the idea of healthspan.
Healthspan gap: Life expectancy minus HALE, at the same age and from the same source.Why it matters: It cannot be compared between different ages, methods or agencies.