Life Expectancy Across 30 Major Economies

What We're Showing

Life expectancy and trade are closely linked, as trade significantly impacts a population’s overall health and prosperity. 

This graphic, created in partnership with the Hinrich Foundation, visualizes life expectancy at birth across 29 major economies, using data from the United Nations’ Human Development Index (UN HDI).

The analysis comes from the 2024 Sustainable Trade Index (STI), which the Hinrich Foundation produced in collaboration with the IMD World Competitiveness Center.

Key Takeaways

• Life expectancy at birth and GDP per capita are closely correlated.
• Countries with lower GDP per capita, including Myanmar and Papua New Guinea, tended to have lower life expectancies. Conversely, countries with higher GDP per capita, such as Australia and Singapore, tended to have populations that lived longer.
• As one of the only developed countries without Universal Health Coverage, the U.S. is the sole outlier in this dataset.