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Charted: Life Expectancy In The World’s Largest Economies

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Life Expectancy by Country in the World’s Top 30 Economies

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Key Takeaways

  • Japan has the highest life expectancy among the world’s largest economies, at 85 years.
  • Indonesia, ranked 17th globally by GDP in 2025, has the lowest life expectancy at 72 years.

Despite living in the world’s largest economy, Americans have shorter life expectancies than residents of many other wealthy nations.

People in Japan—the world’s fourth-largest economy—live about five years longer on average. Meanwhile, residents in countries like France and Italy outlive Americans by roughly four years.

This graphic shows life expectancy by country across the world’s 30 largest economies, based on data from the United Nations. GDP data was drawn from the International Monetary Fund.

A Closer Look at Life Expectancy by Country

Below, we rank countries based on GDP in 2025, including their life expectancies at birth:

Rank by GDPCountryLife Expectancy
1???????? United States80
2???????? China79
3???????? Germany82
4???????? Japan85
5???????? India73
6???????? United Kingdom82
7???????? France84
8???????? Italy84
9???????? Russia74
10???????? Canada83
11???????? Brazil76
12???????? Spain84
13???????? Mexico76
14???????? South Korea84
15???????? Australia84
16???????? Türkiye78
17???????? Indonesia72
18???????? Netherlands83
19???????? Saudi Arabia80
20???????? Poland79
21???????? Switzerland84
22???????? Belgium83
23???????? Ireland83
24???????? Argentina78
25???????? Sweden84
26???????? Israel83
27???????? Singapore84
28???????? United Arab Emirates83
29???????? Austria83
30???????? Thailand77

With an average life expectancy of 80 years, Americans live shorter lives than those in many other major economies. This gap is driven by several factors, including limited access to healthcare, high obesity rates, and elevated homicide rates.

Notably, the U.S. is the only G10 country without universal healthcare. It also has some of the highest healthcare costs among wealthy nations, at $14,885 per person, roughly double the OECD average.

China, the world’s second-largest economy, has an average life expectancy of 79 years, up from 68 in 1990. In recent years, national policies have focused on improving disease prevention and expanding medical insurance coverage.

India’s life expectancy stands at 73 years, among the lowest of the top 30 economies by GDP. Life expectancy also varies significantly by caste, with lower-caste individuals shown to live about four years fewer on average than those in higher castes.

However, India has recorded some of the largest gains in life expectancy globally over the past six decades. Since 1965, the average lifespan has increased by 27 years. In particular, this reflects growing advancements in healthcare, child mortality, and enhanced nutrition, further aided by strong economic growth.

Learn More on the Voronoi App

To learn more about this topic, check out this graphic on the countries with the longest life expectancies.