Countries with Lowest Life Expectancy (2026)

Nigeria has the lowest life expectancy at 54.5 years. Countries with low life expectancy often face challenges including limited healthcare access, poverty, conflict, and infectious disease burden.

Lesotho

57.4 years

Countries with Lowest Life Expectancy - 216 countries ranked by Life Expectancy
Rank	Country	Life Expectancy	Population	Region
1	Nigeria	54.5 years	232,679,478	Africa
2	Chad	55.1 years	20,299,123	Africa
3	Lesotho	57.4 years	2,337,423	Africa
4	Central African Republic	57.4 years	5,330,690	Africa
5	South Sudan	57.6 years	11,943,408	Africa
6	Somalia	58.8 years	19,009,151	Africa
7	Mali	60.4 years	24,478,595	Africa
8	Guinea	60.7 years	14,754,785	Africa
9	Benin	60.8 years	14,462,724	Africa
10	Burkina Faso	61.1 years	23,548,781	Africa
11	Niger	61.2 years	27,032,412	Africa
12	Sierra Leone	61.8 years	8,642,022	Africa
13	DR Congo	61.9 years	109,276,265	Africa
14	Ivory Coast	61.9 years	31,934,230	Africa
15	Nauru	62.1 years	11,947	Oceania
16	Liberia	62.2 years	5,612,817	Africa
17	Togo	62.7 years	9,515,236	Africa
18	Zimbabwe	62.8 years	16,634,373	Africa
19	Mozambique	63.6 years	34,631,766	Africa
20	Madagascar	63.6 years	31,964,956	Africa
21	Kenya	63.6 years	56,432,944	Africa
22	Burundi	63.6 years	14,047,786	Africa
23	Cameroon	63.7 years	29,123,744	Africa
24	Equatorial Guinea	63.7 years	1,892,516	Africa
25	Guinea-Bissau	64.1 years	2,201,352	Africa
26	Eswatini	64.1 years	1,242,822	Africa
27	Angola	64.6 years	37,885,849	Africa
28	Haiti	64.9 years	11,772,557	Americas
29	Palestine	65.2 years	5,289,152	Asia
30	Ghana	65.5 years	34,427,414	Africa
31	Republic of the Congo	65.8 years	6,332,961	Africa
32	Gambia	65.9 years	2,759,988	Africa
33	Djibouti	66.0 years	1,168,722	Africa
34	Afghanistan	66.0 years	42,647,492	Asia
35	Papua New Guinea	66.1 years	10,576,502	Oceania
36	South Africa	66.1 years	64,007,187	Africa
37	Sudan	66.3 years	50,448,963	Africa
38	Zambia	66.3 years	21,314,956	Africa
39	Kiribati	66.5 years	134,518	Oceania
40	Comoros	66.8 years	866,628	Africa
41	Myanmar	66.9 years	54,500,091	Asia
42	Marshall Islands	66.9 years	37,548	Oceania
43	Tanzania	67.0 years	68,560,157	Africa
44	Tuvalu	67.1 years	9,646	Oceania
45	Micronesia	67.2 years	113,160	Oceania
46	Ethiopia	67.3 years	132,059,767	Africa
47	Fiji	67.3 years	928,784	Oceania
48	Malawi	67.3 years	21,655,286	Africa
49	Namibia	67.4 years	3,030,131	Africa
50	Pakistan	67.7 years	251,269,164	Asia
51	Timor-Leste	67.7 years	1,400,638	Asia
52	Rwanda	67.8 years	14,256,567	Africa
53	Uganda	68.3 years	50,015,092	Africa
54	Gabon	68.3 years	2,538,952	Africa
55	Mauritania	68.5 years	5,169,395	Africa
56	Bolivia	68.6 years	12,413,315	Americas
57	Eritrea	68.6 years	3,535,603	Africa
58	Senegal	68.7 years	18,501,984	Africa
59	Laos	69.0 years	7,769,819	Asia
60	Botswana	69.2 years	2,521,139	Africa
61	Palau	69.3 years	17,695	Oceania
62	Yemen	69.3 years	40,583,164	Asia
63	Libya	69.3 years	7,381,023	Africa
64	São Tomé and Príncipe	69.7 years	235,536	Africa
65	Philippines	69.8 years	115,843,670	Asia
66	Turkmenistan	70.1 years	7,494,498	Asia
67	Guyana	70.2 years	831,087	Americas
68	Nepal	70.3 years	29,651,054	Asia
69	Solomon Islands	70.5 years	819,198	Oceania
70	Cambodia	70.7 years	17,638,801	Asia
71	Dominica	71.1 years	66,205	Americas
72	Indonesia	71.2 years	283,487,931	Asia
73	Moldova	71.2 years	2,402,306	Europe
74	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	71.2 years	100,616	Americas
75	Jamaica	71.5 years	2,839,175	Americas
76	Vanuatu	71.5 years	327,777	Oceania
77	Greenland	71.5 years	56,836	Americas
78	Egypt	71.6 years	116,538,258	Africa
79	Samoa	71.7 years	218,019	Oceania
80	Tajikistan	71.8 years	10,590,927	Asia
81	India	72.0 years	1,450,935,791	Asia
82	El Salvador	72.1 years	6,338,193	Americas
83	Syria	72.1 years	24,672,760	Asia
84	Mongolia	72.1 years	3,524,788	Asia
85	Saint Kitts and Nevis	72.2 years	46,843	Americas
86	Kyrgyzstan	72.3 years	7,221,868	Asia
87	Iraq	72.3 years	46,042,015	Asia
88	Uzbekistan	72.4 years	36,361,859	Asia
89	Venezuela	72.5 years	28,405,543	Americas
90	Guatemala	72.6 years	18,406,359	Americas
91	Saint Lucia	72.7 years	179,744	Americas
92	American Samoa	72.8 years	46,765	Oceania
93	Honduras	72.9 years	10,825,703	Americas
94	Tonga	72.9 years	104,175	Oceania
95	Bhutan	73.0 years	791,524	Asia
96	Russia	73.3 years	143,533,851	Europe
97	Mauritius	73.4 years	1,245,779	Africa
98	Ukraine	73.4 years	37,860,221	Europe
99	Trinidad and Tobago	73.5 years	1,368,333	Americas
100	Belize	73.6 years	417,072	Americas
101	Suriname	73.6 years	634,431	Americas
102	North Korea	73.6 years	26,498,823	Asia
103	Dominican Republic	73.7 years	11,427,557	Americas
104	Paraguay	73.8 years	6,929,153	Americas
105	Belarus	74.2 years	9,132,629	Europe
106	Kazakhstan	74.4 years	20,592,571	Asia
107	Azerbaijan	74.4 years	10,202,830	Asia
108	Georgia	74.5 years	3,699,557	Asia
109	Bahamas	74.5 years	401,283	Americas
110	Vietnam	74.6 years	100,987,686	Asia
111	Bangladesh	74.7 years	173,562,364	Asia
112	Nicaragua	75.0 years	6,916,140	Americas
113	Seychelles	75.0 years	121,354	Africa
114	Mexico	75.1 years	130,861,007	Americas
115	Grenada	75.2 years	117,207	Americas
116	Morocco	75.3 years	38,081,173	Africa
117	North Macedonia	75.3 years	1,824,359	Europe
118	Brunei	75.3 years	462,721	Asia
119	Latvia	75.7 years	1,866,124	Europe
120	Bulgaria	75.7 years	6,441,421	Europe
121	Brazil	75.8 years	211,998,573	Americas
122	Cape Verde	76.1 years	524,877	Africa
123	Barbados	76.2 years	282,467	Americas
124	Serbia	76.2 years	6,586,476	Europe
125	Algeria	76.3 years	46,814,308	Africa
126	Aruba	76.3 years	107,995	Americas
127	Sint Maarten	76.4 years	43,350	Americas
128	Thailand	76.4 years	71,668,011	Asia
129	Tunisia	76.5 years	12,277,109	Africa
130	Romania	76.6 years	19,051,804	Europe
131	Malaysia	76.7 years	35,557,673	Asia
132	Hungary	76.8 years	9,562,065	Europe
133	Curaçao	76.8 years	155,967	Americas
134	Lithuania	77.0 years	2,888,278	Europe
135	Turkey	77.2 years	85,518,661	Asia
136	Guam	77.2 years	167,777	Oceania
137	British Virgin Islands	77.3 years	39,471	Americas
138	Ecuador	77.4 years	18,135,478	Americas
139	Argentina	77.4 years	45,696,159	Americas
140	Armenia	77.5 years	3,033,500	Asia
141	Sri Lanka	77.5 years	21,916,000	Asia
142	Montenegro	77.6 years	623,525	Europe
143	Antigua and Barbuda	77.6 years	93,772	Americas
144	Iran	77.7 years	91,567,738	Asia
145	Colombia	77.7 years	52,886,363	Americas
146	Peru	77.7 years	34,217,848	Americas
147	Jordan	77.8 years	11,552,876	Asia
148	Lebanon	77.8 years	5,805,962	Asia
149	Bosnia and Herzegovina	77.8 years	3,164,253	Europe
150	China	78.0 years	1,408,975,000	Asia
151	Turks and Caicos Islands	78.0 years	46,535	Americas
152	Slovakia	78.0 years	5,422,069	Europe
153	Kosovo	78.0 years	1,594,353	Europe
154	Cuba	78.1 years	10,979,783	Americas
155	Uruguay	78.1 years	3,386,588	Americas
156	United States	78.4 years	340,110,988	Americas
157	Croatia	78.5 years	3,866,200	Europe
158	Estonia	78.5 years	1,372,341	Europe
159	Poland	78.5 years	36,559,233	Europe
160	Saudi Arabia	78.7 years	35,300,280	Asia
161	New Caledonia	78.8 years	292,639	Oceania
162	Northern Mariana Islands	78.8 years	44,278	Oceania
163	Panama	79.6 years	4,515,577	Americas
164	Albania	79.6 years	2,377,128	Europe
165	Czechia	79.9 years	10,905,028	Europe
166	Oman	80.0 years	5,281,538	Asia
167	Saint Martin	80.2 years	26,129	Americas
168	Cayman Islands	80.4 years	74,457	Americas
169	United States Virgin Islands	80.5 years	104,377	Americas
170	Germany	80.5 years	83,516,593	Europe
171	Costa Rica	80.8 years	5,129,910	Americas
172	Isle of Man	81.0 years	84,160	Europe
173	Maldives	81.0 years	527,799	Asia
174	Chile	81.2 years	19,764,771	Americas
175	United Kingdom	81.2 years	69,226,000	Europe
176	Bahrain	81.3 years	1,588,670	Asia
177	Greece	81.5 years	10,405,134	Europe
178	Austria	81.5 years	9,177,982	Europe
179	Canada	81.7 years	41,288,599	Americas
180	Cyprus	81.7 years	1,358,282	Europe
181	Finland	81.7 years	5,619,911	Europe
182	Puerto Rico	81.7 years	3,203,295	Americas
183	Denmark	81.8 years	5,976,992	Europe
184	Netherlands	81.9 years	17,993,485	Europe
185	Slovenia	82.0 years	2,127,400	Europe
186	Portugal	82.3 years	10,694,681	Europe
187	Bermuda	82.3 years	64,636	Americas
188	Qatar	82.4 years	2,857,822	Asia
189	Belgium	82.4 years	11,858,610	Europe
190	Iceland	82.6 years	386,506	Europe
191	Ireland	82.9 years	5,395,790	Europe
192	Singapore	82.9 years	6,036,860	Asia
193	United Arab Emirates	82.9 years	10,986,400	Asia
194	France	82.9 years	68,551,653	Europe
195	New Zealand	83.0 years	5,287,500	Oceania
196	Australia	83.0 years	27,196,812	Oceania
197	Norway	83.1 years	5,572,279	Europe
198	Faroe Islands	83.1 years	54,681	Europe
199	Macau	83.2 years	687,000	Asia
200	Kuwait	83.2 years	4,897,263	Asia
201	Israel	83.2 years	9,974,400	Asia
202	Sweden	83.3 years	10,569,709	Europe
203	Luxembourg	83.4 years	677,012	Europe
204	South Korea	83.4 years	51,751,065	Asia
205	Malta	83.5 years	568,847	Europe
206	Gibraltar	83.5 years	39,329	Europe
207	Italy	83.7 years	58,952,704	Europe
208	Spain	83.9 years	48,848,840	Europe
209	Japan	84.0 years	123,975,371	Asia
210	Andorra	84.0 years	81,938	Europe
211	Switzerland	84.1 years	9,005,582	Europe
212	French Polynesia	84.1 years	281,807	Oceania
213	Liechtenstein	84.8 years	40,450	Europe
214	Hong Kong	85.3 years	7,524,100	Asia
215	San Marino	85.7 years	33,977	Europe
216	Monaco	86.4 years	38,631	Europe

Why Is Life Expectancy So Low in Some Countries?

Nigeria has the lowest life expectancy at 54.5 years, more than 19 years below the global average of 73.8. 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

Lesotho

Why Is Life Expectancy So Low in Some Countries?

The Role of Conflict and Instability

Progress Despite Challenges

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