Global life expectancy has recovered to almost its pre-pandemic level, but new health data shows that people are not necessarily spending those additional years in good health.

The latest Global Health Estimates released by the World Health Organization provide a comprehensive picture of changes in life expectancy, causes of death and disease burden across countries and regions between 2000 and 2023.

Global Life Expectancy Reaches 73.3 Years

According to the latest figures, global life expectancy at birth reached 73.3 years in 2023, compared with 73.4 years in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted global health trends.

The recovery represents a major improvement from the pandemic period, when mortality increased sharply in many countries. However, the figures also reveal an important difference between simply living longer and living healthier.

Global healthy life expectancy reached 62.8 years in 2023, remaining about 0.4 years below its 2019 level. This means that the recovery in overall life expectancy has been faster than the recovery in the number of years people can expect to live in good health.

Noncommunicable Diseases Increasingly Dominate Global Deaths

The new data also highlights a major transformation in the global disease burden.

Noncommunicable diseases accounted for approximately 74 percent of deaths worldwide in 2023, compared with 58 percent in 2000. Eight of the world’s ten leading causes of death were noncommunicable diseases.

Heart disease, diabetes, dementia and other chronic conditions are therefore becoming increasingly important challenges for health systems across both developed and developing economies.

Heart Disease Remains a Major Global Threat

Cardiovascular disease continues to represent the world’s largest overall health burden.

Ischaemic heart disease alone was responsible for approximately 9.5 million deaths in 2023 and around 210 million disability-adjusted life years, reflecting years of healthy life lost because of premature death and disability.

Although significant progress has been made in reducing the burden of ischaemic heart disease since 2000 in many regions, the latest estimates show that cardiovascular risks remain unevenly distributed.

Dementia Rises Sharply

Dementia has also become increasingly prominent in global mortality statistics.

In 2023, dementia became the fifth leading cause of death worldwide, compared with 19th in 2000. Global deaths from dementia tripled during this period.

The trend reflects the growing importance of ageing populations and the increasing need for health and social-care systems capable of supporting people living with long-term conditions.

Mental Health Burden Is Also Growing

The WHO estimates point to changes beyond physical diseases.

Between 2019 and 2023, the global age-standardized disability-adjusted life-year rate increased by approximately 20 percent for depressive disorders and nearly 45 percent for anxiety disorders.

Together, these conditions were responsible for an estimated 110 million years of healthy life lost in 2023 through premature death and disability.

Longer Lives Create New Policy Challenges

The latest figures suggest that the world’s health challenge is changing.

For much of the past several decades, increasing life expectancy was viewed primarily as a major public-health achievement. Today, governments increasingly face the additional challenge of ensuring that longer lives are accompanied by better health, functioning and quality of life.

This requires stronger prevention programmes, effective management of chronic diseases, mental-health services, healthy ageing policies and health systems capable of supporting older populations.

The data also demonstrates the importance of reliable health statistics. WHO’s Global Health Estimates combine information from national vital-registration systems, WHO programmes, United Nations partners and other scientific sources to provide comparable health estimates across countries and over time.

Recovery Has Not Been Equal Everywhere

While the global average has returned close to its pre-pandemic level, the recovery is not uniform across populations and regions.

Some countries have experienced faster improvements, while others continue to face significant health-system weaknesses, disease risks and inequalities.

The latest estimates therefore present a mixed picture: humanity has regained much of the life-expectancy progress lost during the pandemic, but the growing burden of chronic disease, mental-health conditions and ageing-related illnesses is creating a new set of global health priorities.

The central challenge for policymakers is increasingly shifting from how long people live to how many of those years they can live in good health.