Life expectancy declines by almost two years
The WHO report shows that women are likely to live two years longer than their male counterparts because of behavioural and genetic factors.
What you need to know:
- The World Health Statistics 2025, which has data collated between 2019 up to the end of last year, shows that the Covid-19 pandemic crippled health systems and reduced life expectancy by 1.8 years.
More people around the world are likely to die before their 70th birthday –a new World Health Organization (WHO) report shows, indicating the latest decline in life expectancy since 2012.
The World Health Statistics 2025, which has data collated between 2019 up to the end of last year, shows that the Covid-19 pandemic crippled health systems and reduced life expectancy by 1.8 years.
The Healthy Life Expectancy, which is the number of years a person is expected to live with no medical issues, has also regressed to about 61.9 years.
The report shows that women are likely to live two years longer than their male counterparts because of behavioural and genetic factors.
The African region had the second least healthy life expectancy at only 55.2 years and overall life expectancy of at least 63.6 years.
The report shows that since the onset of the pandemic, there has been an overall upsurge in anxiety and depression linked to Covid, which has since reduced global healthy life expectancy by six weeks.
This has expunged any gains that were made from fewer deaths related to non-communicable diseases (NCDs) during the same period.
The report also shows progress, especially in the reduced number of deaths in children under five years as a result of malaria, diarrhoeal diseases and respiratory infections. Despite the progress, the worry is that maternal and child deaths are not dropping steadily to reach global targets.
The report attributes the current status of children and mothers' health to political commitment, investment, innovation and stronger health systems.
“Progress has stalled, putting millions of lives at risk. This slowdown follows two decades of remarkable gains: between 2000 and 2023, maternal deaths dropped by over 40 per cent and child deaths under five years of age more than halved. But underinvestment in primary healthcare, shortages of skilled health workers, and gaps in services like immunisation and safe childbirth are now holding countries back,” the report explains.
Global targets
With only five years to 2030 where the world will have a scoreacard on progress of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, the WHO report shows that the current overall progress is inadequate to meet the health-related SDG and other global targets.
“Declines were observed in mortality from causes addressed by the SDG indicators, including maternal mortality, child and neonatal mortality, premature NCD mortality, injury mortality, and mortality attributed to unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene and air pollution. However, the progress for all these indicators is either insufficient or stalled, and is currently off-track for achieving their respective global targets,” explains the report.
WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said that regardless of the world being off-track to reaching Health SDG related goals, stronger leadership and scaled-up delivery can seal the gap.
“Behind every data point is a person—a child who didn’t reach their fifth birthday, a mother lost in childbirth, a life cut short by a preventable disease,” he said
“These are avoidable tragedies. They point to critical gaps in access, protection, and investment—especially for women and girls. Health progress is slowing. Every government has a responsibility to act with urgency, commitment and accountability to the people they serve.”
The report shows that by the end of last year, about 1.4 billion more people were living healthier, surpassing the one billion target that was adopted by the United Nations in 2015.
“The progress in healthier lives was driven by reduction in tobacco use, improved air quality and better access to water, hygiene, and sanitation. But progress toward increased coverage of essential health services and protection from emergencies lagged; only 431 million more people gained access to essential health services without financial hardship, and close to 637 million more people were better protected from health emergencies,” the report explained.
Untimely deaths from NCDs—such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and cancer—are also rising. The report indicates that the burgeoning population as well as age contributes to the most deaths among people under the age of 70.
“This report shows that the world is failing its health checkup. But countries have shown that rapid progress is possible,” said Dr Samira Asma, WHO assistant director-general for Data, Analytics and Delivery for Impact.
“Together, we can achieve a world where data is timelier and more accurate, programmes improve continuously, and premature deaths become rare. With speed, scale, and smart investments, every country can deliver measurable gains.”
Dr Haidong Wang, WHO unit head for Health Data and Analytics, said that for countries to achieve stronger health systems, they have to rely on strong health information with timely, trusted data which in turn drives better decisions and faster results.
