WHO: Average life expectancy is approaching pre-pandemic levels

The WHO has published a report titled “Global Health Outlook”, which includes trends in average life expectancy, causes of death and the burden of disease.

The report says: “The global health landscape continues to improve and people are living longer. After the disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, global average life expectancy has returned to levels close to those before the pandemic. Global average life expectancy reached 73.3 years in 2023, close to the 73.4 years recorded in 2019. However, healthy life expectancy showed a slower recovery, reaching 62.8 years in 2023, 0.4 years below the 2019 level.”

The report, which stresses that non-communicable diseases are contributing ever more to deaths, also notes that conditions such as diabetes, dementia, mental health problems and substance use disorders are contributing to a growing and changing burden of disease.

The report states that “74 percent of global deaths in 2023 were due to non-communicable diseases, compared with 58 percent in 2000”, recalling that in 2023 almost 8 of the 10 leading causes of death worldwide were due to non-communicable diseases.

The report notes that this shift is becoming ever more visible across all income levels and states that in 2023, for the first time, infectious diseases accounted for less than half of all deaths in low-income countries, marking another step in the global epidemiological transition.

Alain Labrique, Director of the WHO’s Department of Data, Digital Health, Analytics and Artificial Intelligence, whose views were included in the report, stated: “Living longer is one of public health’s greatest achievements. The next challenge is to ensure that these extra years are spent in good health and to ensure that health systems are equipped to respond to the population’s changing needs.”