Stagnating life expectancy in UK and US exposed: damning chart shows how both countries have fallen behind all other G7 nations – so how is YOUR country doing?
UK life expectancy has fallen in the world rankings, with only the US performing worst among advanced economies, according to a new analysis.
Around 70 years ago, people in the UK had one of the highest life expectancies in the world, ranking 10th in the world behind countries like Norway, Sweden and Denmark.
But although the average person is now living more than 12 years longer than they did in 1950, progress has stalled compared to other developed nations, with the UK falling to 36th in the world.
The only G7 country to perform worse is the US, which has fallen from 13th to 53rd on the UN list of the 200 countries.
Experts suggest the sluggish progress is likely due to rising health inequalities, which mean poorer social groups are dying earlier than the rich.
The chart shows how each G7 country performs in international life expectancy rankings each year from 1950 to 2020. While Japan climbed from 45th to third place, the UK plummeted from 10th to 36th and the US plummeted from 13th to 53rd. It is based on data from scientists at the University of Oxford and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine who have studied global life expectancy values
Countries like Japan have improved remarkably, moving up from 45th to 3rd in the world rankings. Pictured: Aerial view of Tokyo cityscape with Mount Fuji
Average life expectancy in the UK has increased from 68.63 years in 1950 to 80.43 years in 2020, compared to 68.06 and 77.41 in the US respectively. Pictured: Aerial view of Central Park in New York
Scientists from the University of Oxford and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine examined global life expectancy values between 1952 and 2021.
They paid particular attention to the G7 countries – Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the US – a collection of countries with advanced economies that account for about half of global economic output.
They found that the UK underperformed all G7 countries except the US for seven decades.
While life expectancy has increased since the study began, similar countries have seen larger increases, according to results published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.
Average life expectancy in the UK has increased from 68.63 years in 1950 to 80.43 years in 2020, compared to 68.06 and 77.41 in the US respectively.
However, these improvements have not kept pace with countries like Norway and Sweden, where people can now expect to live to 83.20 and 82.43, respectively.
A map showing the change in life expectancy between 1800, 1950 and 2015 illustrates the dramatic global divide
The 10 countries with the LONGEST life expectancy
The 10 countries with the SHORTEST life expectancies
Meanwhile, countries like Japan have improved remarkably, moving up from 45th to third in the world rankings.
The authors said Britain’s descent in the ranks had been prepared for decades, which included a rise in income inequality in the UK during and after the 1980s.
Professor Martin McKee, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said: “This increase has also led to an increase in the differences in life expectancy between different social groups.
“One reason life expectancy growth in the UK as a whole has been so sluggish is that it has declined among poorer groups in recent years.”
dr Lucinda Hiam of Oxford University said: “The ranking shows that the only G7 country to perform worse than the UK is the US.”
dr Hiam added: “In the short term, the government faces an acute crisis. However, a relative deterioration in the health of the population is evidence that all is not well.
“It was historically an early sign of serious political and economic problems.
“This new analysis suggests that the problems facing the UK run deep and raises serious questions about the path this country is taking.”
ranking | Region, sub-region, country or territory | Life expectancy at birth (years) |
---|---|---|
1 | Hong Kong | 85.2 |
2 | Macao | 85.18 |
3 | Japan | 84.69 |
4 | Australia | 84.32 |
5 | Republic of Korea | 83.61 |
6 | Malta | 83.36 |
7 | Norway | 83.2 |
8th | Switzerland | 83.07 |
9 | Martinique | 83.05 |
10 | Singapore | 82.86 |
11 | New Zealand | 82.74 |
12 | Iceland | 82.58 |
13 | Ireland | 82.47 |
14 | Guadeloupe | 82.44 |
15 | Sweden | 82.43 |
16 | Italy | 82.4 |
17 | Israel | 82.36 |
18 | Spain | 82.29 |
19 | French Polynesia | 82.22 |
20 | France | 82.21 |
21 | reunion | 82.1 |
22 | Canada | 82.05 |
23 | Finland | 81.87 |
24 | Netherlands | 81.64 |
25 | Denmark | 81.55 |
26 | Austria | 81.5 |
27 | Luxembourg | 81.43 |
28 | Cyprus | 81.39 |
29 | Germany | 81.15 |
30 | Portugal | 81.06 |
31 | Greece | 80.91 |
32 | Taiwan | 80.89 |
33 | New Caledonia | 80.83 |
34 | Belgium | 80.79 |
35 | Slovenia | 80.44 |
36 | Great Britain | 80.43 |
37 | Maldives | 79.88 |
38 | Chile | 79.38 |
39 | Costa Rica | 79.28 |
40 | Thailand | 79.27 |
41 | Bahrain | 79.17 |
42 | Qatar | 79.1 |
43 | United Arab Emirates | 78.95 |
44 | Antigua and Barbuda | 78.84 |
45 | Czech Republic | 78.58 |
46 | Uruguay | 78.43 |
47 | Estonia | 78.34 |
48 | China | 78.08 |
49 | Puerto Rico | 78.04 |
50 | Croatia | 77.98 |
51 | Lebanon | 77.8 |
52 | Cuba | 77.57 |
53 | United States of America | 77.41 |
54 | Barbados | 77.39 |
55 | Slovakia | 77.01 |
56 | Albania | 76.99 |
57 | French Guiana | 76.98 |
58 | Poland | 76.94 |
59 | Kuwait | 76.92 |
60 | Panama | 76.66 |
61 | Guam | 76.61 |
62 | Sri Lanka | 76.39 |
63 | Montenegro | 76.26 |
64 | Saudi Arabia | 76.24 |
65 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 76.23 |
66 | Curaçao | 76.1 |
67 | Malaysia | 75.94 |
68 | Argentina | 75.89 |
69 | Turkey | 75.85 |
70 | Hungary | 75.73 |
71 | Aruba | 75.72 |
72 | Latvia | 75.45 |
73 | Mayotte | 75.41 |
74 | Serbia | 75.41 |
75 | Vietnam | 75.38 |
76 | Romania | 75.35 |
77 | Tunisia | 75.29 |
78 | Jordan | 75.18 |
79 | North Macedonia | 75.17 |
80 | Lithuania | 75.07 |
81 | American Virgin Islands | 74.94 |
82 | Iran (Islamic Republic of) | 74.83 |
83 | Cape Verde | 74.81 |
84 | Brunei Darussalam | 74.8 |
85 | Colombia | 74.77 |
86 | Oman | 74.76 |
87 | Algeria | 74.45 |
88 | Trinidad and Tobago | 74.41 |
89 | State of Palestine | 74.4 |
90 | Mauritius | 74.33 |
91 | Brazil | 74.01 |
92 | Morocco | 73.92 |
93 | Peru | 73.67 |
94 | Bulgaria | 73.65 |
95 | Seychelles | 73.53 |
96 | Saint Lucia | 73.42 |
97 | to the. People’s Republic of Korea | 73.27 |
98 | Paraguay | 73.18 |
99 | Dominican Republic | 72.89 |
100 | Belize | 72.85 |
101 | Samoa | 72.77 |
102 | Georgia | 72.77 |
103 | Bahamas | 72.68 |
104 | Ukraine | 72.57 |
105 | Suriname | 72.56 |
106 | Belarus | 72.51 |
107 | Libya | 72.47 |
108 | Granada | 72.28 |
109 | Armenia | 72.17 |
110 | Ecuador | 72.15 |
111 | Mongolia | 72.14 |
112 | Syrian Arab Republic | 72.14 |
113 | St. Vincent and the Grenadines | 72.13 |
114 | Philippines | 72.12 |
115 | Bangladesh | 71.97 |
116 | Jamaica | 71.87 |
117 | Guatemala | 71.8 |
118 | Nicaragua | 71.8 |
119 | Bhutan | 71.61 |
120 | Honduras | 71.46 |
121 | Russian Federation | 71.34 |
122 | Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic) | 71.1 |
123 | ElSalvador | 71.06 |
124 | Egypt | 70.99 |
125 | Tonga | 70.93 |
126 | Micronesia (Federal States of) | 70.67 |
127 | Western Sahara | 70.52 |
128 | Cambodia | 70.42 |
129 | Uzbekistan | 70.33 |
130 | Vanuatu | 70.3 |
131 | Solomon Islands | 70.2 |
132 | Republic of Moldova | 70.17 |
133 | India | 70.15 |
134 | Mexico | 70.13 |
135 | Kazakhstan | 70.03 |
136 | Kyrgyzstan | 69.63 |
137 | Nepal | 69.25 |
138 | Iraq | 69.12 |
139 | Indonesia | 68.81 |
140 | Turkmenistan | 68.69 |
141 | Laos People’s Democratic Republic | 68.5 |
142 | Guyana | 68.49 |
143 | Timor Leste | 68.48 |
144 | Senegal | 68.01 |
145 | Tajikistan | 67.99 |
146 | Fiji | 67.92 |
147 | Sao Tome and Principe | 67.79 |
148 | Kiribati | 67.27 |
149 | Eritrea | 67.13 |
150 | Azerbaijan | 66.87 |
151 | Burma | 66.8 |
152 | Rwanda | 66.77 |
153 | Gabon | 66.53 |
154 | United Republic of Tanzania | 66.41 |
155 | Pakistan | 66.27 |
156 | Papua New Guinea | 65.79 |
157 | Botswana | 65.65 |
158 | Sudan | 65.61 |
159 | Ethiopia | 65.37 |
160 | South Africa | 65.25 |
161 | Madagascar | 65.18 |
162 | Yemen | 64.65 |
163 | Mauritania | 64.53 |
164 | Bolivia (plurinational state) | 64.47 |
165 | Comoros | 64.17 |
166 | Ghana | 64.11 |
167 | Haiti | 64.05 |
168 | Congo | 63.79 |
169 | Malawi | 63.72 |
170 | Uganda | 62.85 |
171 | Namibia | 62.83 |
172 | Djibouti | 62.69 |
173 | Kenya | 62.68 |
174 | Gambia | 62.61 |
175 | Afghanistan | 62.58 |
176 | Zambia | 62.38 |
177 | Angola | 62.26 |
178 | burundi | 61.57 |
179 | Niger | 61.45 |
180 | Mozambique | 61.17 |
181 | Zimbabwe | 61.12 |
182 | Go | 61.04 |
183 | Liberia | 60.95 |
184 | Cameroon | 60.83 |
185 | Equatorial Guinea | 60.71 |
186 | benin | 60.09 |
187 | Guinea Bissau | 60 |
188 | Sierra Leone | 59.76 |
189 | Democratic Republic of Congo | 59.74 |
190 | Burkina Faso | 59.73 |
191 | Eswatini | 59.69 |
192 | Guinea | 59.33 |
193 | Ivory Coast | 59.03 |
194 | mali | 58.63 |
195 | Somalia | 55.97 |
196 | South Sudan | 55.48 |
197 | Lesotho | 54.69 |
198 | Central African Republic | 54.6 |
199 | Nigeria | 52.89 |
200 | Chad | 52.78 |