Countries With the Highest Life Expectancy in 2026

2026 medium projection

Compare period life expectancy at birth and see how survival relates—but does not translate directly—to population ageing.

Countries and areas: 237
Highest-ranked: Monaco86.7 years
Rank 10: Australia84.3 years
End of table: Nigeria55.0 years

Estimate or projection?

The UN series provides historical estimates through 2023. Figures from 2024 onward—including 2026—are medium-scenario projections, not counts or predictions guaranteed to occur.

Complete countries with the highest life expectancy in 2026 ranking

Select any country to inspect its full age-by-sex structure and projections.

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Countries With the Highest Life Expectancy in 2026
Rank	Country or area	Region	Life expectancy	Age 65+
1	Monaco	Europe	86.7 years	35.9%
2	San Marino	Europe	86.0 years	23.8%
3	Hong Kong	Asia	85.9 years	24.7%
4	Japan	Asia	85.1 years	30.2%
5	Saint Barthélemy	Latin America and the Caribbean	84.6 years	18.6%
5	South Korea	Asia	84.6 years	21.4%
7	Andorra	Europe	84.5 years	17.2%
8	French Polynesia	Oceania	84.4 years	12.6%
8	Switzerland	Europe	84.4 years	20.9%
10	Australia	Oceania	84.3 years	18.5%
11	Italy	Europe	84.2 years	25.6%
12	Liechtenstein	Europe	84.1 years	22.0%
12	Singapore	Asia	84.1 years	14.8%
12	Spain	Europe	84.1 years	22.2%
15	Gibraltar	Europe	83.9 years	18.1%
15	Réunion	Africa	83.9 years	16.9%
17	Malta	Europe	83.8 years	20.9%
17	Norway	Europe	83.8 years	19.4%
19	France	Europe	83.7 years	22.9%
19	Guernsey	Europe	83.7 years	22.7%
19	Sweden	Europe	83.7 years	21.1%
22	Macao	Asia	83.6 years	15.9%
23	United Arab Emirates	Asia	83.4 years	1.8%
23	Vatican City	Europe	83.4 years	41.0%
25	Iceland	Europe	83.3 years	16.3%
26	Canada	Northern America	83.1 years	20.7%
27	Martinique	Latin America and the Caribbean	83.0 years	27.4%
28	Ireland	Europe	82.9 years	16.5%
28	Israel	Asia	82.9 years	12.8%
28	Portugal	Europe	82.9 years	25.4%
31	Bermuda	Northern America	82.8 years	23.5%
31	Qatar	Asia	82.8 years	1.7%
33	Belgium	Europe	82.6 years	21.4%
33	Guadeloupe	Latin America and the Caribbean	82.6 years	25.5%
33	Luxembourg	Europe	82.6 years	16.2%
33	Netherlands	Europe	82.6 years	21.3%
37	Austria	Europe	82.5 years	21.6%
37	New Zealand	Oceania	82.5 years	18.0%
39	Denmark	Europe	82.4 years	21.4%
39	Finland	Europe	82.4 years	24.5%
39	Greece	Europe	82.4 years	24.7%
42	Puerto Rico	Latin America and the Caribbean	82.3 years	25.8%
43	Cyprus	Asia	82.2 years	15.3%
44	Slovenia	Europe	82.1 years	22.7%
45	Germany	Europe	81.9 years	24.2%
46	Bahrain	Asia	81.7 years	4.2%
46	Chile	Latin America and the Caribbean	81.7 years	15.1%
46	Maldives	Asia	81.7 years	5.3%
46	United Kingdom	Europe	81.7 years	19.9%
50	Costa Rica	Latin America and the Caribbean	81.4 years	13.3%
50	Isle of Man	Europe	81.4 years	24.1%
52	Taiwan	Asia	81.1 years	20.9%
53	Kuwait	Asia	81.0 years	3.3%
54	Cayman Islands	Latin America and the Caribbean	80.9 years	10.1%
55	Faroe Islands	Europe	80.8 years	17.8%
55	Saint Martin (French part)	Latin America and the Caribbean	80.8 years	21.0%
57	Oman	Asia	80.7 years	2.7%
58	Czechia	Europe	80.3 years	21.4%
59	Albania	Europe	80.1 years	18.3%
59	Jersey	Europe	80.1 years	19.7%
59	Panama	Latin America and the Caribbean	80.1 years	10.0%
62	Anguilla	Latin America and the Caribbean	79.9 years	13.5%
63	Falkland Islands (Malvinas)	Latin America and the Caribbean	79.8 years	13.9%
63	United States	Northern America	79.8 years	18.8%
65	Estonia	Europe	79.6 years	22.3%
66	Saudi Arabia	Asia	79.4 years	3.2%
67	New Caledonia	Oceania	79.2 years	12.1%
67	Northern Mariana Islands	Oceania	79.2 years	11.9%
67	Poland	Europe	79.2 years	21.3%
70	Croatia	Europe	79.1 years	24.0%
71	China	Asia	79.0 years	15.1%
71	Wallis and Futuna Islands	Oceania	79.0 years	15.8%
73	Slovakia	Europe	78.8 years	19.5%
74	Cuba	Latin America and the Caribbean	78.6 years	17.6%
74	Kosovo	Europe	78.6 years	10.9%
74	Uruguay	Latin America and the Caribbean	78.6 years	16.5%
77	Turks and Caicos Islands	Latin America and the Caribbean	78.5 years	12.2%
78	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Europe	78.4 years	23.5%
78	Turkey	Asia	78.4 years	10.9%
80	Colombia	Latin America and the Caribbean	78.3 years	10.6%
80	Jordan	Asia	78.3 years	5.0%
80	Peru	Latin America and the Caribbean	78.3 years	9.7%
83	Iran	Asia	78.2 years	8.9%
83	Lebanon	Asia	78.2 years	10.7%
85	Antigua and Barbuda	Latin America and the Caribbean	78.1 years	12.9%
86	Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba	Latin America and the Caribbean	78.0 years	15.3%
86	Sri Lanka	Asia	78.0 years	12.8%
88	Ecuador	Latin America and the Caribbean	77.9 years	8.9%
89	Argentina	Latin America and the Caribbean	77.8 years	12.9%
89	British Virgin Islands	Latin America and the Caribbean	77.8 years	10.6%
89	Guam	Oceania	77.8 years	13.6%
89	North Macedonia	Europe	77.8 years	19.0%
93	Montenegro	Europe	77.6 years	18.8%
94	French Guiana	Latin America and the Caribbean	77.5 years	7.5%
94	Hungary	Europe	77.5 years	21.3%
96	State of Palestine	Asia	77.4 years	3.9%
96	Tokelau	Oceania	77.4 years	8.7%
98	Curaçao	Latin America and the Caribbean	77.3 years	17.8%
98	Saint Helena	Africa	77.3 years	28.3%
98	Saint Pierre and Miquelon	Northern America	77.3 years	21.4%
98	Serbia	Europe	77.3 years	23.4%
102	Malaysia	Asia	77.2 years	8.3%
103	Thailand	Asia	77.1 years	16.7%
103	Tunisia	Africa	77.1 years	10.3%
105	Algeria	Africa	76.9 years	7.0%
105	Sint Maarten (Dutch part)	Latin America and the Caribbean	76.9 years	15.1%
107	Aruba	Latin America and the Caribbean	76.8 years	18.5%
108	Montserrat	Latin America and the Caribbean	76.7 years	20.1%
109	Barbados	Latin America and the Caribbean	76.6 years	17.6%
109	Cabo Verde	Africa	76.6 years	7.5%
109	Latvia	Europe	76.6 years	22.7%
109	Mayotte	Africa	76.6 years	2.9%
113	Lithuania	Europe	76.5 years	21.3%
114	Brazil	Latin America and the Caribbean	76.4 years	11.9%
114	Romania	Europe	76.4 years	20.2%
116	Armenia	Asia	76.2 years	15.2%
116	United States Virgin Islands	Latin America and the Caribbean	76.2 years	23.6%
118	Bulgaria	Europe	76.1 years	22.5%
119	Morocco	Africa	75.9 years	8.8%
120	Brunei	Asia	75.8 years	7.6%
120	Cook Islands	Oceania	75.8 years	15.6%
122	Grenada	Latin America and the Caribbean	75.7 years	13.0%
123	Mexico	Latin America and the Caribbean	75.6 years	8.8%
124	Bangladesh	Asia	75.5 years	6.8%
125	Mauritius	Africa	75.4 years	14.7%
125	Nicaragua	Latin America and the Caribbean	75.4 years	5.9%
127	Libya	Africa	75.2 years	5.4%
128	Bahamas	Latin America and the Caribbean	75.0 years	12.5%
128	Belarus	Europe	75.0 years	18.9%
128	Georgia	Asia	75.0 years	16.4%
128	Ukraine	Europe	75.0 years	19.1%
128	Vietnam	Asia	75.0 years	9.9%
133	Azerbaijan	Asia	74.9 years	9.8%
134	Kazakhstan	Asia	74.8 years	9.3%
135	Paraguay	Latin America and the Caribbean	74.2 years	6.9%
136	Belize	Latin America and the Caribbean	74.1 years	5.4%
136	Dominican Republic	Latin America and the Caribbean	74.1 years	8.5%
138	North Korea	Asia	74.0 years	13.0%
138	Suriname	Latin America and the Caribbean	74.0 years	8.5%
140	Trinidad and Tobago	Latin America and the Caribbean	73.9 years	13.5%
141	Bhutan	Asia	73.8 years	6.8%
142	Russia	Europe	73.7 years	18.4%
143	Honduras	Latin America and the Caribbean	73.4 years	4.7%
143	Syria	Asia	73.4 years	5.0%
143	Tonga	Oceania	73.4 years	7.0%
146	American Samoa	Oceania	73.3 years	9.1%
146	Seychelles	Africa	73.3 years	9.0%
148	Saint Lucia	Latin America and the Caribbean	73.2 years	10.3%
149	Guatemala	Latin America and the Caribbean	73.0 years	5.1%
149	Venezuela	Latin America and the Caribbean	73.0 years	10.4%
151	Uzbekistan	Asia	72.8 years	6.3%
152	El Salvador	Latin America and the Caribbean	72.7 years	8.5%
152	India	Asia	72.7 years	7.6%
154	Iraq	Asia	72.6 years	3.5%
154	Saint Kitts and Nevis	Latin America and the Caribbean	72.6 years	12.2%
156	Mongolia	Asia	72.5 years	5.7%
157	Egypt	Africa	72.2 years	5.4%
157	Tajikistan	Asia	72.2 years	4.3%
159	Kyrgyzstan	Asia	72.1 years	6.3%
159	Samoa	Oceania	72.1 years	6.2%
161	Vanuatu	Oceania	72.0 years	4.5%
161	Western Sahara	Africa	72.0 years	7.0%
163	Jamaica	Latin America and the Caribbean	71.9 years	9.0%
164	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	Latin America and the Caribbean	71.7 years	12.6%
165	Dominica	Latin America and the Caribbean	71.6 years	13.5%
165	Indonesia	Asia	71.6 years	7.8%
165	Moldova	Europe	71.6 years	17.4%
168	Nepal	Asia	71.2 years	6.7%
169	Cambodia	Asia	71.1 years	6.6%
170	Solomon Islands	Oceania	71.0 years	3.7%
171	Guyana	Latin America and the Caribbean	70.6 years	7.2%
172	Turkmenistan	Asia	70.5 years	5.1%
173	Greenland	Northern America	70.4 years	12.3%
173	Niue	Oceania	70.4 years	17.2%
175	Sao Tome and Principe	Africa	70.3 years	4.0%
176	Philippines	Asia	70.2 years	6.0%
177	Laos	Asia	69.7 years	5.0%
177	Yemen	Asia	69.7 years	2.6%
179	Botswana	Africa	69.6 years	4.1%
179	Palau	Oceania	69.6 years	12.4%
181	Eritrea	Africa	69.4 years	4.3%
181	Senegal	Africa	69.4 years	3.7%
183	Mauritania	Africa	69.2 years	3.3%
184	Bolivia	Latin America and the Caribbean	69.1 years	5.8%
185	Gabon	Africa	68.9 years	4.2%
185	Uganda	Africa	68.9 years	2.3%
187	Rwanda	Africa	68.5 years	4.1%
188	Timor-Leste	Asia	68.3 years	5.2%
189	Ethiopia	Africa	68.1 years	3.4%
189	Pakistan	Asia	68.1 years	4.4%
191	Malawi	Africa	67.9 years	2.6%
192	Fiji	Oceania	67.8 years	6.8%
192	Namibia	Africa	67.8 years	3.9%
194	Micronesia	Oceania	67.7 years	6.4%
195	Tanzania	Africa	67.6 years	3.0%
195	Tuvalu	Oceania	67.6 years	7.5%
197	Comoros	Africa	67.5 years	4.4%
197	Myanmar	Asia	67.5 years	7.7%
199	Marshall Islands	Oceania	67.3 years	5.1%
200	Kiribati	Oceania	66.9 years	4.5%
200	Sudan	Africa	66.9 years	3.5%
200	Zambia	Africa	66.9 years	2.1%
203	Afghanistan	Asia	66.8 years	2.5%
204	South Africa	Africa	66.7 years	7.1%
205	Djibouti	Africa	66.6 years	5.1%
206	Gambia	Africa	66.5 years	3.3%
206	Papua New Guinea	Oceania	66.5 years	3.7%
208	Republic of the Congo	Africa	66.4 years	3.1%
209	Ghana	Africa	66.1 years	3.9%
210	Haiti	Latin America and the Caribbean	65.5 years	4.9%
211	Angola	Africa	65.2 years	2.9%
212	Guinea-Bissau	Africa	64.6 years	3.3%
213	Cameroon	Africa	64.5 years	2.8%
213	Eswatini	Africa	64.5 years	4.4%
215	Equatorial Guinea	Africa	64.3 years	3.9%
215	Madagascar	Africa	64.3 years	3.5%
217	Kenya	Africa	64.2 years	3.1%
218	Burundi	Africa	64.1 years	2.6%
218	Mozambique	Africa	64.1 years	2.7%
220	Zimbabwe	Africa	63.6 years	3.5%
221	Togo	Africa	63.3 years	3.3%
222	Liberia	Africa	62.6 years	3.4%
222	Nauru	Oceania	62.6 years	3.2%
224	Democratic Republic of the Congo	Africa	62.4 years	3.1%
224	Ivory Coast	Africa	62.4 years	2.7%
226	Sierra Leone	Africa	62.3 years	3.3%
227	Niger	Africa	61.9 years	2.6%
228	Burkina Faso	Africa	61.6 years	2.7%
229	Benin	Africa	61.3 years	3.2%
230	Guinea	Africa	61.2 years	3.5%
231	Mali	Africa	61.1 years	2.3%
232	Somalia	Africa	59.3 years	2.6%
233	Lesotho	Africa	58.6 years	3.9%
234	Central African Republic	Africa	58.2 years	2.2%
235	South Sudan	Africa	58.0 years	3.2%
236	Chad	Africa	55.6 years	2.1%
237	Nigeria	Africa	55.0 years	3.1%

What this ranking measures—and what it does not

Definition

Period life expectancy summarizes the years a newborn would live if the mortality rates of the reference period applied throughout life. It is not the predicted lifespan of a specific baby.

Why it matters

Longer survival allows more people to reach older ages and expands the top of the pyramid. Fertility and migration still determine how large older groups are relative to the whole population.

Read with care

National life expectancy hides differences by sex, income, region, and other conditions. Small differences between close ranks should not be overinterpreted.

What stands out in this comparison

Monaco leads with 86.7 years, while Australia is at rank 10 with 84.3 years. At the other end of the complete table, Nigeria has 55.0 years.

Those positions describe this particular indicator, definition, and reference period. They do not imply that every country near the top has the same population pyramid or demographic path. Open the profiles to compare the underlying cohorts.

First five

Monaco — rank 1, 86.7 years; age 65+ 35.9%.
San Marino — rank 2, 86.0 years; age 65+ 23.8%.
Hong Kong — rank 3, 85.9 years; age 65+ 24.7%.
Japan — rank 4, 85.1 years; age 65+ 30.2%.
Saint Barthélemy — rank 5, 84.6 years; age 65+ 18.6%.

Other end of the table

Nigeria — rank 237, 55.0 years; age 65+ 3.1%.
Chad — rank 236, 55.6 years; age 65+ 2.1%.
South Sudan — rank 235, 58.0 years; age 65+ 3.2%.
Central African Republic — rank 234, 58.2 years; age 65+ 2.2%.
Lesotho — rank 233, 58.6 years; age 65+ 3.9%.

Questions about this ranking

Which country or area ranks first for life expectancy?

Monaco ranks first in this comparison with 86.7 years. The table uses 2026 medium projection from UN World Population Prospects 2024.

Which values are estimates and which are projections?

In World Population Prospects 2024, historical estimates run through 2023 and values from 2024 onward are projections. The peak-year table labels historical and projected results separately.

Why might another source show a different rank?

Sources can use different reference dates, revisions, country definitions, estimation methods, or projection scenarios. Close ranks can also change after revisions.