Question · Health and longevity · World, 204 countries and territories
Are longer lives also healthier lives?
World average at birth · 204 countries and territories · 1990 compared with 2023 (two published points, no trajectory)
Short answer
On average yes, but not entirely. Worldwide, life expectancy at birth rose from 64.6 to 73.8 years between 1990 and 2023, and healthy life expectancy from 55.9 to 63.1 years. Healthy years grew by less than total years: the gap between them widened by a published 1.9 years (95% UI 1.3–2.6).
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Source: The Lancet Public Health (Elsevier), vol. 11, issue 8, e487–e505 · source issue Aug 2026 · source last checked 9 Sept 2026Version 1 · published by World Pulse 9 Sept 2026
These are model estimates for a newborn under each year’s death and health rates, averaged over 204 countries and territories. They say how the average has moved, not how long any particular person will live, how many of their years will be healthy, or how long they can work.
Scope
Group
A newborn in the world as a whole, in the statistical sense: the average number of years a child born in that year would live if the age-specific death and health rates of that year held for its whole life. Both sexes together; no age group, country or individual.
Place
Global estimate across 204 countries and territories of the Global Burden of Disease Study 2023. Country values exist in the study but are not shown here.
Period
1990 and 2023 — the first and last years of the study’s series. No value between them and no value for 2024–2026 is used.
Definition
Life expectancy at birth: the mean years lived under that year’s age-specific mortality. Healthy life expectancy (HALE): the years a newborn can expect to live in the equivalent of full health, counting years lived with disease or injury as fractions of a healthy year, adjusted for co-occurring conditions. The study calls life expectancy minus HALE the “morbidity gap”; it reports mean estimates and 95% uncertainty intervals from 250 or more draws of its posterior distributions.
What changed between 1990 and 2023
1990 → 2023: life expectancy 64.6 → 73.8 years, healthy life expectancy 55.9 → 63.1 years
Life expectancy at birth (all years)
199064.6202373.8years
Healthy life expectancy at birth (years in full health)
199055.9202363.1years
| Measure | 1990 | 2023 | Change (published) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Life expectancy at birth (all years) | 64.6 64.5–64.8 | 73.8 73.6–74.1 | — |
| Healthy life expectancy at birth (years in full health) | 55.9 53.5–57.9 | 63.1 60.2–65.6 | — |
| Years not in full health (life expectancy minus healthy life expectancy — the study’s “morbidity gap”) | 8.8 6.7–11.2 | 10.7 8.2–13.7 | +1.9 1.3–2.6 |
- All values are the study’s mean estimates with 95% uncertainty intervals, copied at the study’s precision (one decimal). Subtracting the displayed rows gives 64.6 − 55.9 = 8.7, while the study publishes the 1990 gap as 8.8; for 2023 the subtraction (10.7) matches. The published gap is kept as published and is not recomputed; the reason for the 0.1 difference is not established here (the study’s appendix was not read). The uncertainty of the change (+1.9, 1.3–2.6) is the published one; it cannot be obtained by subtracting the end-point intervals.
- Two points, not a trajectory: nothing between 1990 and 2023 is shown or interpolated, and no value for 2026 exists in this source. “At birth” means the average for a newborn under the death and health rates of that year — not the remaining years of anyone alive today.
- Healthy life expectancy counts years lived with disease or injury as fractions of a healthy year (comorbidity-adjusted). It is a population summary of health loss, not a scale on which an individual is “healthy until 63.1”.
Why it matters
Plans for work, retirement, savings and family care quietly assume something about how many of the extra years of life are healthy ones. The world average moved in both directions at once: healthy years rose by about seven, total years by about nine, so the average share of life spent in poor health rose from 13.6% to 14.5%.
The study finds the widening in 203 of 204 countries and territories by point estimate, and across adult ages rather than only in the last years of life. That is the pattern this observation supports; it does not say what happens in any one country, family or job.
What the data do not establish
- How long you, or anyone alive now, will live or stay healthy. These are averages at birth under the rates of one year; they are not a remaining-years estimate for a person of a given age and health.
- Anything about 2026. The latest published year is 2023; no value for later years exists in this source and none is extrapolated.
- That people can work longer. Working capacity depends on age, occupation, and activity limitations in the relevant group — none of which a world at-birth average measures.
- How many years of care a family will need. The gap is a comorbidity-adjusted sum of fractional health loss across a lifetime, not calendar years of dependence or incapacity; needing help, its duration and available support are separate observations.
- Why the gap widened. The study attributes years of poor health to conditions and risk factors (musculoskeletal, mental, sense-organ disorders, falls, high blood sugar, high body-mass index); this dossier reports the observation, not causes, and gives no medical advice.
- That living with a health condition means an unlived or lesser life. The measure counts health loss as the study defines it; it is not a judgement about the value of years lived with disability.
What to watch next
- A correction, erratum or retraction notice on the primary article (Lancet Public Health / PubMed), or a new comparable Global Burden of Disease round with world life expectancy and healthy life expectancy at birth. No date is announced for either.
- Whether later rounds report the gap widening at working ages specifically — the observation that would bear on “working longer”, which this dossier does not establish.
Next known signal
No scheduled date. The next signal would be a correction or retraction of the primary article, or a new comparable GBD round (life expectancy and healthy life expectancy at birth for the world) — neither has an announced date as of 9 September 2026.
How this dossier is updated
Manually updated, on the source’s rhythm (Global Burden of Disease rounds are irregular, roughly every one to three years). World Pulse editors re-check the primary record for corrections at their working reviews and publish a new version only after checking new or corrected figures. Reading the same article again is not an update.
No validated forecast: this dossier records an observation and does not estimate what will happen next.
Sources and versions
Source extract — check it yourself
Every figure above maps to a row here. Quotations are verbatim from the source.
- Global, regional, and national trends in the morbidity gap and contributing diseases, injuries, and risk factors, 1990–2023: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2023 (Hay SI et al.)The Lancet Public Health (Elsevier), vol. 11, issue 8, e487–e505source issue Aug 2026 · retrieved 9 Sept, 13:17 UTCOpen access (CC BY 4.0). DOI 10.1016/S2468-2667(26)00098-8. The article page states only “Published August 2026” (issue: vol. 11, no. 8); no day of online publication is given there, so the date is shown at month precision. All figures in this dossier are copied from the Results section of this text. The appendix (supplementary tables) was not read.
- PubMed record PMID 42480564 (abstract)National Library of Medicine (PubMed)source issue Aug 2026 · retrieved 9 Sept, 13:14 UTCRetrieved through the E-utilities API (the web page shows a cookie/verification interstitial to automated clients). Indexed for MEDLINE; no correction or retraction notice attached at the time of reading. DOI link: https://doi.org/10.1016/S2468-2667(26)00098-8
- Singapore has the world’s longest, healthiest lives — but also more years in poor health (news item, section “A trend observed globally”)NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicinereleased 22 Jul 2026 · retrieved 9 Sept, 13:14 UTCPublication by the co-authors’ institution about the same study — not an independent replication. The World Pulse editor read it on 8 September 2026; the executor’s re-read on 9 September 2026 was met by an hCaptcha challenge and was not attempted further, so no figure in this dossier rests on this item alone.
- Healthy life expectancy at birth (years) — indicator definitionWorld Health Organization (data.who.int)released 2 Aug 2024 · retrieved 9 Sept, 13:13 UTCUsed only for the plain-language meaning of “healthy life expectancy”. WHO’s own series (Global Health Estimates, latest year 2018 on the page) is a different set of estimates and does not continue the GBD numbers above.
| Figure | Value | Where in the source | Verbatim |
|---|---|---|---|
| Life expectancy at birth, world, 1990 → 2023 | 64.6 (95% UI 64.5–64.8) → 73.8 (73.6–74.1) years | Global, regional, and national trends in the morbidity gap and contributing diseases, injuries, and risk factors, 1990–2023: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2023 (Hay SI et al.)Results, first sentence | Between 1990 and 2023, global life expectancy at birth increased from 64·6 years (95% UI 64·5–64·8) to 73·8 (73·6–74·1), and HALE rose from 55·9 years (53·5–57·9) to 63·1 (60·2–65·6; appendix 1 pp 4, 10–17). |
| Healthy life expectancy at birth, world, 1990 → 2023 | 55.9 (95% UI 53.5–57.9) → 63.1 (60.2–65.6) years | Global, regional, and national trends in the morbidity gap and contributing diseases, injuries, and risk factors, 1990–2023: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2023 (Hay SI et al.)Results, first sentence (same as above) | — |
| Gap between the two (years not in full health) and its change | 8.8 (6.7–11.2) → 10.7 (8.2–13.7); +1.9 years (1.3–2.6), +21.9% (16.0–27.9) | Global, regional, and national trends in the morbidity gap and contributing diseases, injuries, and risk factors, 1990–2023: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2023 (Hay SI et al.)Results, second sentence; also Findings in the abstract | These increases resulted in an expansion in the morbidity gap from 8·8 years (6·7–11·2) in 1990 to 10·7 (8·2–13·7) in 2023 (figure 1; table), an increase of 1·9 years (1·3–2·6) or 21·9% (16·0–27·9). |
| Share of life in poor health | 13.6% (1990) → 14.5% (2023) | PubMed record PMID 42480564 (abstract)Findings | Globally in 2023, an average of 14·5% of life was spent in poor health, compared to 13·6% in 1990. |
| Widening seen almost everywhere; across adult ages | 203 of 204 countries and territories (point estimates) | PubMed record PMID 42480564 (abstract)Findings | with point estimates suggesting widening morbidity gaps in 203 of 204 countries and territories. […] From 1990 to 2023, across locations, age-specific morbidity gaps widened across the adult life course, rather than concentrating in the final years of life. |
| How the estimates are built | GBD 2023; 204 countries and territories; ≥250 posterior draws; comorbidity-adjusted | PubMed record PMID 42480564 (abstract)Methods | Using Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2023 estimates of life expectancy and healthy life expectancy (HALE) at birth for 204 countries and territories from 1990 to 2023, we calculated the morbidity gap as life expectancy minus HALE […] adjusted for comorbidity to avoid double counting disability for co-occurring conditions. We report mean estimates and 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs) derived from 250 or more draws from posterior distributions. |
| What “healthy life expectancy” means | years in “full health”, discounting years lived in less than full health | Healthy life expectancy at birth (years) — indicator definitionIndicator definition | The average number of years that a person can expect to live in 'full health' by taking into account years lived in less than full health due to disease and/or injury. |
| Same figures in the co-authors’ institutional news item | LE 64.6 → 73.8; HALE 55.9 → 63.1 (as read by the editor on 8 September 2026) | Singapore has the world’s longest, healthiest lives — but also more years in poor health (news item, section “A trend observed globally”)Section “A trend observed globally” | — |
Version history
- Version 1 (current)published by World Pulse 9 Sept, 14:13 UTC · prepared 9 Sept, 13:40 UTCFirst publication
First publication: world estimates at birth for 1990 and 2023 from GBD 2023 (Hay et al., Lancet Public Health, August 2026), with the published widening of the gap between total and healthy years.
Open-access full text of Hay et al. (2026), section Results (read 9 September 2026), the PubMed abstract (PMID 42480564), the NUS Medicine news item of 22 July 2026 by the co-authors’ institution, and the WHO indicator definition of healthy life expectancy.
Source date label corrected 9 Sept, 17:05 UTC. Previously: “1 Aug 2026 (day shown; only the issue month was verified)”. Lead review R4: the source date was displayed to the day although only the August 2026 issue was verified; the primary article page (read 9 September 2026) gives only the month, so the label now shows month precision.
Explanatory note corrected 9 Sept, 17:05 UTC. Previously: “All values are the study’s mean estimates with 95% uncertainty intervals, copied at the study’s precision (one decimal). Subtracting the two rows gives 64.6 − 55.9 = 8.7 and 73.8 − 63.1 = 10.7, while the study publishes the 1990 gap as 8.8: that is rounding in the publication, not a correction to make here. The uncertainty of the change (+1.9, 1.3–2.6) is the published one; it cannot be obtained by subtracting the end-point intervals.”. Lead review R4: the explanation asserted publication rounding as the cause of the 8.7-versus-8.8 difference; that cause was not verified. The note now says the reason is not established. Published figures, intervals, snapshot and the version-1 result are unchanged.
First published by World Pulse on 9 Sept 2026. Historical years in the chart are the source’s reference periods, not earlier World Pulse publications.