Life expectancy
Life expectancy is the most used measure to describe population health and reflects the overall mortality level of a population. Life expectancy measures how long, on average, a person is expected to live based on current age- and sex-specific death rates. In summarising mortality patterns, life expectancy is often expressed as the number of years of life, from birth, a person is expected to live.
Trends in life expectancy
Life expectancy in Australia has improved dramatically for both sexes in the last century, particularly life expectancy at birth. Compared with their counterparts in 1891–1900, boys and girls born in 2020–2022 can expect to live around 30 years longer (Figure 8.1).
But, for the first time since the mid-1990s, life expectancy in Australia decreased in 2020–2022 (by 0.1 years for males and females from 2019–2021) (ABS 2023a). This is likely to be due to the large increase in deaths in 2022 of which close to half were due to COVID-19 and the remainder due to increases in other causes.
Figure 8.1: Life expectancy (years) at birth in Australia, by sex, 1891–1900 to 2020–2022
Life expectancy at birth increased from 1891–1900 to 2020–2022 for both males and females. Life expectancy for males increased from 51.1 to 81.2 and for females from 54.8 to 85.3 years.
| Year | Males | Females |
|---|---|---|
| 1881–1890 | 47.2 | 50.8 |
| 1891–1900 | 51.1 | 54.8 |
| 1901–1910 | 55.2 | 58.8 |
| 1920–1922 | 59.2 | 63.3 |
| 1932–1934 | 63.5 | 67.1 |
| 1946–1948 | 66.1 | 70.6 |
| 1953–1955 | 67.1 | 72.8 |
| 1960–1962 | 67.9 | 74.2 |
| 1965–1967 | 67.6 | 74.2 |
| 1970–1972 | 67.8 | 74.5 |
| 1975–1977 | 69.6 | 76.6 |
| 1980–1982 | 71.2 | 78.3 |
| 1985–1987 | 72.7 | 79.2 |
| 1990–1992 | 74.3 | 80.4 |
| 1993–1995 | 75.0 | 80.8 |
| 1994–1996 | 75.2 | 81.1 |
| 1995–1997 | 75.6 | 81.3 |
| 1996–1998 | 75.9 | 81.5 |
| 1997–1999 | 76.2 | 81.8 |
| 1998–2000 | 76.6 | 82.0 |
| 1999–2001 | 77.0 | 82.4 |
| 2000–2002 | 77.4 | 82.6 |
| 2001–2003 | 77.8 | 82.8 |
| 2002–2004 | 78.1 | 83.0 |
| 2003–2005 | 78.5 | 83.3 |
| 2004–2006 | 78.7 | 83.5 |
| 2005–2007 | 79.0 | 83.7 |
| 2006–2008 | 79.2 | 83.7 |
| 2007–2009 | 79.3 | 83.9 |
| 2008–2010 | 79.5 | 84.0 |
| 2009–2011 | 79.8 | 84.2 |
| 2010–2012 | 79.9 | 84.3 |
| 2011–2013 | 80.1 | 84.3 |
| 2012–2014 | 80.3 | 84.4 |
| 2013–2015 | 80.4 | 84.5 |
| 2014–2016 | 80.4 | 84.6 |
| 2015–2017 | 80.5 | 84.6 |
| 2016–2018 | 80.7 | 84.9 |
| 2017–2019 | 80.9 | 85.0 |
| 2018–2020 | 81.2 | 85.3 |
| 2019–2021 | 81.3 | 85.4 |
| 2020-2022 | 81.2 | 85.3 |
Sources: ABS 2014a; ABS 2014b; ABS 2015; ABS 2016; ABS 2017; ABS 2018a; ABS 2019; ABS 2020; ABS 2022; ABS 2023a; Table S8.1.
In Australia, a boy born in 2020–2022 can expect to live to the age of 81.2 years and a girl can expect to live to 85.3 years compared to 51.1 for boys and 54.8 years for girls born in 1891–1900.
Life expectancy changes over the course of a person’s life because as they survive the periods of birth, childhood and adolescence, their chance of reaching older age increases. The life expectancy at different ages can be presented as the number of additional years a person can expect to live or their expected age at death in years.
Men aged 65 in 2020–2022 could expect to live another 20.2 years (an expected age at death of 85.2 years), and women aged 65 in 2020–2022 could expect to live another 22.8 years (an expected age at death of 87.8 years) (Table 8.1).
Age (years) | Males 1891–1900 | Males 1960–1962 | Males 2020–2022 | Females 1891–1900 | Females 1960–1962 | Females 2020–2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
0 (birth) | 51.1 | 67.9 | 81.2 | 54.8 | 74.2 | 85.3 |
1 | 57.9 | 69.5 | 81.5 | 60.9 | 75.5 | 85.5 |
15 | 62.0 | 70.1 | 81.6 | 65.0 | 76.0 | 85.6 |
25 | 63.9 | 70.8 | 81.9 | 66.7 | 76.3 | 85.8 |
45 | 69.0 | 72.4 | 82.8 | 71.7 | 77.4 | 86.2 |
65 | 76.3 | 77.5 | 85.2 | 77.8 | 80.7 | 87.8 |
85 | 88.8 | 89.1 | 91.5 | 89.1 | 89.8 | 92.5 |
95 | 97.2 | 97.3 | 98.0 | 97.2 | 97.6 | 98.3 |
Sources: ABS 2014a; ABS 2023a; Table S8.1.
Life expectancy of First Nations peoples and non-Indigenous people
Life expectancy differs between populations (see Trends in life expectancy). Table 8.2 presents the life expectancy estimates for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (First Nations) people and non-Indigenous people at different ages.
For First Nations people born in 2020–2022:
- males can expect to live to the age of 71.9 years
- females can expect to live to the age of 75.6 years.
For non-Indigenous people born in 2020-2022:
- males can expect to live to the age of 80.6 years
- females can expect to live to the age of 83.8 years.
The difference (gap) in life expectancy at birth between First Nations people and non-Indigenous Australians was 8.8 years for males and 8.1 years for females. Life expectancy for First Nations males and females at all ages was lower than for non-Indigenous Australians.
The difference in life expectancy between males and females in both population groups decreases with age. For example, for people aged 65:
- The gap between First Nations males and females decreases from 3.8 years at birth to 1.2 years.
- The gap between non-Indigenous males and females decreases from 3.1 years at birth to 1.7 years.
Table 8.2: Life expectancy estimates by age and sex, First Nations and non-Indigenous peoples, 2020-22
Age (years) | First Nations males | First Nations females | Difference First Nations males & females | Non-Indigenous males | Non-Indigenous females | Difference non-Indigenous males and females | Difference between First Nations and non-Indigenous males | Difference between First Nations and non-Indigenous females |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
0 (birth) | 71.9 | 75.6 | 3.8 | 80.6 | 83.8 | 3.1 | 8.8 | 8.1 |
1 | 71.3 | 75.0 | 3.7 | 79.9 | 83.0 | 3.1 | 8.6 | 8.0 |
5 | 67.4 | 71.0 | 3.7 | 75.9 | 79.1 | 3.1 | 8.6 | 8.0 |
25 | 48.1 | 51.4 | 3.4 | 56.3 | 59.2 | 2.9 | 8.2 | 7.8 |
50 | 26.4 | 28.5 | 2.1 | 32.5 | 34.9 | 2.4 | 6.1 | 6.4 |
65 | 15.5 | 16.7 | 1.2 | 19.3 | 21.1 | 1.7 | 3.9 | 4.4 |
85 | 4.4 | 4.5 | 0.1 | 4.7 | 4.8 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.3 |
Notes:
- Includes all states and territories.
- Differences are based on unrounded estimates.
Source: ABS 2023b
International comparisons of life expectancy
Australia enjoys one of the highest life expectancies in the world, at 83.3 years in 2022 for males and females at birth combined – ranked fourth among 38 member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The country with the highest life expectancy at birth for males was Switzerland (81.6 years), and for females was Japan (87.6 years) (Table 8.3).
Rank | Country (males) | Life expectancy (males) | Country (females) | Life expectancy (females) | Country (persons) | Life expectancy (persons) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Switzerland | 81.6 | Japan | 87.6 | Japan | 84.5 |
2 | Japan | 81.5 | Korea | 86.6 | Korea | 83.6 |
3 | Sweden | 81.5 | Spain | 85.9 | Switzerland | 83.5 |
4 | Australia | 81.3 | Australia | 85.4 | Australia | 83.3 |
5 | Iceland | 81.0 | Switzerland | 85.4 | Spain | 83.2 |
6 | Norway | 81.0 | Luxembourg | 85.3 | Sweden | 83.1 |
7 | Israel | 80.9 | France | 85.2 | Italy | 83.0 |
8 | Italy | 80.9 | Italy | 85.0 | Luxembourg | 83.0 |
9 | Luxembourg | 80.9 | Israel | 84.9 | Israel | 82.9 |
10 | Korea | 80.6 | Sweden | 84.8 | Norway | 82.6 |
Note: All 2022 life expectancy values are provisional. The life expectancy values for Australia, Japan, and Korea, are for 2021. The 2022 life expectancy values for these countries were not available for comparison at time of publication.
Source: OECD 2023; Table S8.2.
Life expectancy is calculated using a statistical tool called a life table. A life table is generated from current age- and sex-specific death rates in a given population. The resulting values are used to estimate the likelihood of someone in a hypothetical population dying before their next birthday.
Calculating a person’s life expectancy is based on death patterns in the population and assumes that current death rates will persist throughout that person’s life.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) publishes life tables and calculates life expectancy for the Australian population and for some groups of the population (ABS 2022). These measures are based on 3 years of data to reduce the effect of variations in death rates from year to year.
Life expectancy is related to the average age at death within a population and is inversely related to the population death rates at that time; that is, the lower the death rates the greater the life expectancy. It varies between population groups and over time. High life expectancy is often associated with low infant and child death rates, an ageing population and access to high quality health care.
Differences in life expectancy over time may be due to changes in the patterns of death due to certain conditions. For example, in 1922, infectious disease accounted for 15% of all deaths in Australia and on average people dying from these diseases were 27 years old. By comparison, in 2022, infectious diseases (excluding COVID-19) accounted for less than 2% of deaths and the average age at death for these diseases was 80 years. For more information on this and other causes, see the AIHW General Record of Incidence in Mortality (GRIM) books.
Health-adjusted life expectancy
Burden of disease measures include a measure of health-adjusted life expectancy (HALE) which extends the concept of life expectancy by considering the time spent living with the health consequences of disease and injury. HALE reflects the average number of years of life expected in full health. The ratio of HALE to life expectancy, expressed as a percentage, represents the proportion of life expectancy that is spent in full health. The most recent estimates of HALE for Australians are for 2023. For males born in 2023, HALE was 71.6 years and for females it was 73.6 years. This equates to males and females, on average, living 88% and 87% of their lives in full health, respectively.
For more information, see Australian Burden of Disease Study 2023: Health-adjusted life expectancy.
ABS (2014a) Australian Historical Population Statistics, 2014, ABS cat. no. 3105.0.65.001, ABS, Australian Government.
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ABS (2017) Life Tables, States, Territories and Australia, 2014–2016, ABS cat. no. 3302.0.55.001, ABS, Australian Government.
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ABS (2022) Life Tables, 2018–2020, ABS cat. no. 3302.0.55.001, ABS, Australian Government.
ABS (2022) Life Tables, 2019–2021, ABS cat. no. 3302.0.55.001, ABS, Australian Government.
ABS (2023a) Life expectancy, 2020–2022, ABS Website, accessed 12 April 2024.
ABS (2023b), Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander life expectancy, 2020-2022, ABS Website, accessed 10 May 2024.
OECD (Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development) (2023), Health status, OECD Health Statistics (database), OECD, accessed 27 April 2023.