Countries with Lowest Life Expectancy (2026)

Nigeria has the lowest life expectancy at 54.6 years. Countries with low life expectancy often face challenges including limited healthcare access, poverty, conflict, and infectious disease burden.

Central African Republic

57.7 years

Countries with Lowest Life Expectancy - 216 countries ranked by Life Expectancy
Rank	Country	Life Expectancy	Population	Region
1	Nigeria	54.6 years	232,679,478	Africa
2	Chad	55.2 years	20,299,123	Africa
3	Central African Republic	57.7 years	5,330,690	Africa
4	South Sudan	57.7 years	11,943,408	Africa
5	Lesotho	57.8 years	2,337,423	Africa
6	Somalia	59.0 years	19,009,151	Africa
7	Mali	60.7 years	24,478,595	Africa
8	Guinea	60.9 years	14,754,785	Africa
9	Benin	61.0 years	14,462,724	Africa
10	Burkina Faso	61.3 years	23,548,781	Africa
11	Niger	61.4 years	27,032,412	Africa
12	Sierra Leone	62.0 years	8,642,022	Africa
13	DR Congo	62.1 years	109,276,265	Africa
14	Ivory Coast	62.1 years	31,934,230	Africa
15	Nauru	62.3 years	11,947	Oceania
16	Liberia	62.3 years	5,612,817	Africa
17	Togo	62.9 years	9,515,236	Africa
18	Zimbabwe	63.1 years	16,634,373	Africa
19	Mozambique	63.8 years	34,631,766	Africa
20	Burundi	63.8 years	14,047,786	Africa
21	Kenya	63.8 years	56,432,944	Africa
22	Madagascar	63.8 years	31,964,956	Africa
23	Equatorial Guinea	63.9 years	1,892,516	Africa
24	Cameroon	64.0 years	29,123,744	Africa
25	Guinea-Bissau	64.3 years	2,201,352	Africa
26	Eswatini	64.3 years	1,242,822	Africa
27	Angola	64.8 years	37,885,849	Africa
28	Haiti	65.1 years	11,772,557	Americas
29	Ghana	65.7 years	34,427,414	Africa
30	Republic of the Congo	66.0 years	6,332,961	Africa
31	Gambia	66.1 years	2,759,988	Africa
32	Djibouti	66.2 years	1,168,722	Africa
33	Papua New Guinea	66.3 years	10,576,502	Oceania
34	Afghanistan	66.3 years	42,647,492	Asia
35	South Africa	66.3 years	64,007,187	Africa
36	Sudan	66.5 years	50,448,963	Africa
37	Zambia	66.5 years	21,314,956	Africa
38	Kiribati	66.6 years	134,518	Oceania
39	Comoros	67.0 years	866,628	Africa
40	Marshall Islands	67.1 years	37,548	Oceania
41	Myanmar	67.1 years	54,500,091	Asia
42	Tanzania	67.2 years	68,560,157	Africa
43	Tuvalu	67.3 years	9,646	Oceania
44	Micronesia	67.4 years	113,160	Oceania
45	Fiji	67.5 years	928,784	Oceania
46	Namibia	67.5 years	3,030,131	Africa
47	Malawi	67.6 years	21,655,286	Africa
48	Ethiopia	67.6 years	132,059,767	Africa
49	Pakistan	67.8 years	251,269,164	Asia
50	Timor-Leste	67.9 years	1,400,638	Asia
51	Rwanda	68.0 years	14,256,567	Africa
52	Uganda	68.5 years	50,015,092	Africa
53	Gabon	68.5 years	2,538,952	Africa
54	Mauritania	68.7 years	5,169,395	Africa
55	Bolivia	68.7 years	12,413,315	Americas
56	Eritrea	68.9 years	3,535,603	Africa
57	Senegal	68.9 years	18,501,984	Africa
58	Palestine	69.2 years	5,289,152	Asia
59	Laos	69.2 years	7,769,819	Asia
60	Botswana	69.3 years	2,521,139	Africa
61	Palau	69.4 years	17,695	Oceania
62	Yemen	69.4 years	40,583,164	Asia
63	São Tomé and Príncipe	69.9 years	235,536	Africa
64	Philippines	70.0 years	115,843,670	Asia
65	Turkmenistan	70.2 years	7,494,498	Asia
66	Greenland	70.3 years	56,836	Americas
67	Guyana	70.3 years	831,087	Americas
68	Nepal	70.6 years	29,651,054	Asia
69	Solomon Islands	70.7 years	819,198	Oceania
70	Cambodia	70.8 years	17,638,801	Asia
71	Libya	71.1 years	7,381,023	Africa
72	Indonesia	71.3 years	283,487,931	Asia
73	Dominica	71.3 years	66,205	Americas
74	Moldova	71.3 years	2,402,306	Europe
75	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	71.4 years	100,616	Americas
76	Jamaica	71.6 years	2,839,175	Americas
77	Vanuatu	71.7 years	327,777	Oceania
78	Egypt	71.8 years	116,538,258	Africa
79	Samoa	71.8 years	218,019	Oceania
80	Tajikistan	71.9 years	10,590,927	Asia
81	India	72.2 years	1,450,935,791	Asia
82	Saint Kitts and Nevis	72.3 years	46,843	Americas
83	El Salvador	72.3 years	6,338,193	Americas
84	Kyrgyzstan	72.4 years	7,221,868	Asia
85	Mongolia	72.4 years	3,524,788	Asia
86	Iraq	72.4 years	46,042,015	Asia
87	Uzbekistan	72.5 years	36,361,859	Asia
88	Syria	72.6 years	24,672,760	Asia
89	Venezuela	72.7 years	28,405,543	Americas
90	Guatemala	72.8 years	18,406,359	Americas
91	Saint Lucia	72.8 years	179,744	Americas
92	American Samoa	73.0 years	46,765	Oceania
93	Honduras	73.0 years	10,825,703	Americas
94	Tonga	73.1 years	104,175	Oceania
95	Bhutan	73.3 years	791,524	Asia
96	Russia	73.4 years	143,533,851	Europe
97	Trinidad and Tobago	73.6 years	1,368,333	Americas
98	North Korea	73.7 years	26,498,823	Asia
99	Belize	73.7 years	417,072	Americas
100	Suriname	73.8 years	634,431	Americas
101	Mauritius	73.8 years	1,245,779	Africa
102	Dominican Republic	73.9 years	11,427,557	Americas
103	Paraguay	74.0 years	6,929,153	Americas
104	Belarus	74.4 years	9,132,629	Europe
105	Kazakhstan	74.5 years	20,592,571	Asia
106	Azerbaijan	74.6 years	10,202,830	Asia
107	Georgia	74.7 years	3,699,557	Asia
108	Ukraine	74.7 years	37,860,221	Europe
109	Bahamas	74.7 years	401,283	Americas
110	Vietnam	74.7 years	100,987,686	Asia
111	Bangladesh	74.9 years	173,562,364	Asia
112	Nicaragua	75.1 years	6,916,140	Americas
113	Mexico	75.3 years	130,861,007	Americas
114	Grenada	75.4 years	117,207	Americas
115	Morocco	75.5 years	38,081,173	Africa
116	Brunei	75.5 years	462,721	Asia
117	Bulgaria	75.8 years	6,441,421	Europe
118	Serbia	76.0 years	6,586,476	Europe
119	Brazil	76.0 years	211,998,573	Americas
120	Cape Verde	76.2 years	524,877	Africa
121	Seychelles	76.3 years	121,354	Africa
122	Barbados	76.3 years	282,467	Americas
123	Latvia	76.4 years	1,866,124	Europe
124	Romania	76.5 years	19,051,804	Europe
125	Algeria	76.5 years	46,814,308	Africa
126	Aruba	76.5 years	107,995	Americas
127	Sint Maarten	76.5 years	43,350	Americas
128	Thailand	76.6 years	71,668,011	Asia
129	North Macedonia	76.6 years	1,824,359	Europe
130	Tunisia	76.7 years	12,277,109	Africa
131	Hungary	76.7 years	9,562,065	Europe
132	Malaysia	76.8 years	35,557,673	Asia
133	Curaçao	77.0 years	155,967	Americas
134	Lithuania	77.2 years	2,888,278	Europe
135	Turkey	77.4 years	85,518,661	Asia
136	Guam	77.4 years	167,777	Oceania
137	British Virgin Islands	77.4 years	39,471	Americas
138	Argentina	77.5 years	45,696,159	Americas
139	Ecuador	77.6 years	18,135,478	Americas
140	Sri Lanka	77.7 years	21,916,000	Asia
141	Antigua and Barbuda	77.8 years	93,772	Americas
142	Iran	77.8 years	91,567,738	Asia
143	Montenegro	77.9 years	623,525	Europe
144	Colombia	77.9 years	52,886,363	Americas
145	Peru	77.9 years	34,217,848	Americas
146	Lebanon	77.9 years	5,805,962	Asia
147	Jordan	78.0 years	11,552,876	Asia
148	China	78.0 years	1,408,975,000	Asia
149	Bosnia and Herzegovina	78.0 years	3,164,253	Europe
150	Turks and Caicos Islands	78.2 years	46,535	Americas
151	Kosovo	78.2 years	1,594,353	Europe
152	Cuba	78.3 years	10,979,783	Americas
153	Uruguay	78.3 years	3,386,588	Americas
154	Armenia	78.3 years	3,033,500	Asia
155	Slovakia	78.4 years	5,422,069	Europe
156	Poland	78.4 years	36,559,233	Europe
157	United States	78.9 years	340,110,988	Americas
158	New Caledonia	78.9 years	292,639	Oceania
159	Croatia	78.9 years	3,866,200	Europe
160	Northern Mariana Islands	79.0 years	44,278	Oceania
161	Saudi Arabia	79.0 years	35,300,280	Asia
162	Estonia	79.3 years	1,372,341	Europe
163	Panama	79.8 years	4,515,577	Americas
164	Albania	79.8 years	2,377,128	Europe
165	Czechia	80.0 years	10,905,028	Europe
166	Oman	80.3 years	5,281,538	Asia
167	Saint Martin	80.4 years	26,129	Americas
168	Cayman Islands	80.5 years	74,457	Americas
169	United States Virgin Islands	80.8 years	104,377	Americas
170	Germany	80.8 years	83,516,593	Europe
171	Costa Rica	81.0 years	5,129,910	Americas
172	Isle of Man	81.1 years	84,160	Europe
173	Maldives	81.3 years	527,799	Asia
174	Chile	81.4 years	19,764,771	Americas
175	United Kingdom	81.4 years	69,226,000	Europe
176	Bahrain	81.4 years	1,588,670	Asia
177	Cyprus	81.8 years	1,358,282	Europe
178	Greece	81.8 years	10,405,134	Europe
179	Puerto Rico	81.9 years	3,203,295	Americas
180	Netherlands	82.0 years	17,993,485	Europe
181	Austria	82.0 years	9,177,982	Europe
182	New Zealand	82.0 years	5,287,500	Oceania
183	Canada	82.1 years	41,288,599	Americas
184	Denmark	82.3 years	5,976,992	Europe
185	Slovenia	82.3 years	2,127,400	Europe
186	Belgium	82.3 years	11,858,610	Europe
187	Finland	82.3 years	5,619,911	Europe
188	Portugal	82.4 years	10,694,681	Europe
189	Bermuda	82.5 years	64,636	Americas
190	Qatar	82.5 years	2,857,822	Asia
191	Iceland	82.8 years	386,506	Europe
192	Malta	83.0 years	568,847	Europe
193	France	83.0 years	68,551,653	Europe
194	Ireland	83.0 years	5,395,790	Europe
195	Australia	83.0 years	27,196,812	Oceania
196	United Arab Emirates	83.1 years	10,986,400	Asia
197	Faroe Islands	83.1 years	54,681	Europe
198	Norway	83.2 years	5,572,279	Europe
199	Israel	83.2 years	9,974,400	Asia
200	Luxembourg	83.2 years	677,012	Europe
201	Macau	83.3 years	687,000	Asia
202	Singapore	83.3 years	6,036,860	Asia
203	South Korea	83.6 years	51,751,065	Asia
204	Gibraltar	83.6 years	39,329	Europe
205	Spain	83.9 years	48,848,840	Europe
206	Italy	84.0 years	58,952,704	Europe
207	Japan	84.0 years	123,975,371	Asia
208	Sweden	84.1 years	10,569,709	Europe
209	French Polynesia	84.2 years	281,807	Oceania
210	Andorra	84.2 years	81,938	Europe
211	Liechtenstein	84.2 years	40,450	Europe
212	Switzerland	84.4 years	9,005,582	Europe
213	Kuwait	84.6 years	4,897,263	Asia
214	Hong Kong	85.4 years	7,524,100	Asia
215	San Marino	85.8 years	33,977	Europe
216	Monaco	86.5 years	38,631	Europe

Why Is Life Expectancy So Low in Some Countries?

Nigeria has the lowest life expectancy at 54.6 years, more than 19 years below the global average of 74.0. The countries on this list face compounding health challenges: limited healthcare infrastructure, high rates of infectious disease, malnutrition, and in some cases ongoing conflict.

Sub-Saharan Africa is disproportionately represented, with 19 of the bottom 20 countries. HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, and other infectious diseases continue to reduce life expectancy, though significant progress has been made in recent decades.

The Role of Conflict and Instability

Countries experiencing active wars or prolonged instability often see sharp declines in life expectancy as healthcare systems collapse, displacement increases, and violence directly claims lives. South Sudan and Somalia illustrate how political instability can devastate health outcomes.

Progress Despite Challenges

Despite the low figures, life expectancy has improved substantially even in the lowest-ranked countries. Many have seen increases of 10 or more years since 2000, driven by expanded access to antiretroviral therapy for HIV, malaria prevention programs, and improved child health interventions. International health organizations continue to focus on closing the gap through targeted interventions in maternal health, vaccination, and healthcare strengthening.

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Countries with Lowest Life Expectancy (2026)

Nigeria

Chad

Central African Republic

Why Is Life Expectancy So Low in Some Countries?

The Role of Conflict and Instability

Progress Despite Challenges

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