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Life Expectancy

Map No. 255

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This map shows the total years of life expected to be lived by the current population, based on the life expectancy of children born in 2002. Life expectancy is calculated on the assumption that prevailing trends will continue. It is usually different for men and women. As you get older your whole life expectancy increases from that at your birth because you have survived so far.

The longest life expectancy at birth is in Japan, at 81 years 6 months. The shortest life expectancy is in Zambia, at 32 years 8 months. The world average life expectancy is 67 years.

"The adult mortality rate [in Zambia] has increased in the last decade ... an adult has lost about 11 years of survival due to the AIDS problem ..." Buleti Nsemukila, 2003

Territory size shows the proportion of all the years expected to be lived by the current populations based on the projected life expectancies at birth of those born there in 2002.

• Open PDF poster, designed for printing. You need Acrobat Reader.
• View labelled territory map or population map for comparison
• Data files: Excel (large with map), Excel (small no map), Opendoc format (see notes)
• Technical notes for this data.
• High Resolution image (see copyright conditions)
• All of the data we use is estimated; see data page