Lifespan by CountryLife expectancy in Sub-Saharan Africa
The World Bank regional total is 62.8 years in 2024.
- Total, 2024
- 62.8years at birth
- Female, 2024
- 65.0years at birth
- Male, 2024
- 60.7years at birth
- Female minus male
- 4.3years in 2024
Published World Bank regional aggregate, including all income levels. It is not an unweighted mean of the country table. Retrieved 2026-09-14.
Regional history, 1994–2024
TotalFemale (dashed)Male (dotted)
The vertical axis runs from 40 to 70 years. Missing observations break the line; no values are interpolated.
View all annual figures, 1994–2024
| Year | Total | Female | Male |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 62.80 | 64.96 | 60.68 |
| 2023 | 62.60 | 64.75 | 60.50 |
| 2022 | 61.86 | 63.99 | 59.78 |
| 2021 | 60.70 | 62.77 | 58.69 |
| 2020 | 61.17 | 63.33 | 59.07 |
| 2019 | 61.13 | 63.12 | 59.17 |
| 2018 | 60.77 | 62.71 | 58.85 |
| 2017 | 60.16 | 62.07 | 58.27 |
| 2016 | 59.81 | 61.67 | 57.97 |
| 2015 | 59.40 | 61.21 | 57.60 |
| 2014 | 58.99 | 60.78 | 57.21 |
| 2013 | 58.72 | 60.42 | 57.02 |
| 2012 | 58.23 | 59.85 | 56.61 |
| 2011 | 57.47 | 59.03 | 55.91 |
| 2010 | 57.11 | 58.63 | 55.58 |
| 2009 | 56.37 | 57.86 | 54.88 |
| 2008 | 55.89 | 57.31 | 54.46 |
| 2007 | 55.26 | 56.61 | 53.90 |
| 2006 | 54.59 | 55.88 | 53.28 |
| 2005 | 53.89 | 55.17 | 52.60 |
| 2004 | 53.35 | 54.59 | 52.10 |
| 2003 | 52.83 | 54.06 | 51.59 |
| 2002 | 52.36 | 53.62 | 51.09 |
| 2001 | 51.99 | 53.26 | 50.70 |
| 2000 | 51.64 | 52.99 | 50.30 |
| 1999 | 51.01 | 52.62 | 49.43 |
| 1998 | 50.56 | 52.18 | 48.98 |
| 1997 | 50.62 | 52.21 | 49.05 |
| 1996 | 50.45 | 52.09 | 48.85 |
| 1995 | 50.49 | 52.15 | 48.88 |
| 1994 | 50.12 | 51.83 | 48.49 |
Countries and economies in 2024
48 economies with a total for 2024, ordered from highest to lowest. Ranks in this table are within this region.
| Country or economy | Rank | Year | Total | Female | Male | Sex gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seychelles | 1 | 2024 | 76.3 | 80.7 | 72.1 | 8.6 |
| Cabo Verde | 2 | 2024 | 76.2 | 79.4 | 73.1 | 6.3 |
| Mauritius | 3 | 2024 | 73.8 | 77.4 | 70.4 | 7.1 |
| Sao Tome and Principe | 4 | 2024 | 69.9 | 73.9 | 66.4 | 7.5 |
| Botswana | 5 | 2024 | 69.3 | 71.9 | 66.8 | 5.1 |
| Senegal | 6 | 2024 | 68.9 | 71.0 | 67.0 | 4.0 |
| Eritrea | 7 | 2024 | 68.9 | 70.9 | 66.8 | 4.2 |
| Mauritania | 8 | 2024 | 68.7 | 70.7 | 66.7 | 4.0 |
| Gabon | 9 | 2024 | 68.5 | 71.2 | 66.1 | 5.2 |
| Uganda | 10 | 2024 | 68.5 | 71.4 | 65.5 | 5.9 |
| Rwanda | 11 | 2024 | 68.0 | 70.1 | 65.7 | 4.4 |
| Ethiopia | 12 | 2024 | 67.6 | 71.0 | 64.4 | 6.7 |
| Malawi | 13 | 2024 | 67.6 | 70.8 | 64.3 | 6.5 |
| Namibia | 14 | 2024 | 67.5 | 71.5 | 63.5 | 8.0 |
| Tanzania | 15 | 2024 | 67.2 | 70.0 | 64.4 | 5.6 |
| Comoros | 16 | 2024 | 67.0 | 69.2 | 65.0 | 4.2 |
| Zambia | 17 | 2024 | 66.5 | 68.9 | 64.1 | 4.8 |
| Sudan | 18 | 2024 | 66.5 | 69.8 | 63.4 | 6.4 |
| South Africa | 19 | 2024 | 66.3 | 69.8 | 62.8 | 7.0 |
| Gambia, The | 20 | 2024 | 66.1 | 67.8 | 64.4 | 3.4 |
| Congo, Rep. | 21 | 2024 | 66.0 | 67.7 | 64.3 | 3.4 |
| Ghana | 22 | 2024 | 65.7 | 68.2 | 63.3 | 4.8 |
| Angola | 23 | 2024 | 64.8 | 67.3 | 62.3 | 5.1 |
| Eswatini | 24 | 2024 | 64.3 | 67.1 | 61.3 | 5.8 |
| Guinea-Bissau | 25 | 2024 | 64.3 | 66.5 | 61.8 | 4.7 |
| Cameroon | 26 | 2024 | 64.0 | 66.2 | 61.8 | 4.4 |
| Equatorial Guinea | 27 | 2024 | 63.9 | 65.9 | 62.2 | 3.7 |
| Madagascar | 28 | 2024 | 63.8 | 65.6 | 62.1 | 3.5 |
| Kenya | 29 | 2024 | 63.8 | 66.1 | 61.6 | 4.5 |
| Burundi | 30 | 2024 | 63.8 | 65.9 | 61.8 | 4.1 |
| Mozambique | 31 | 2024 | 63.8 | 66.7 | 60.5 | 6.3 |
| Zimbabwe | 32 | 2024 | 63.1 | 65.3 | 60.5 | 4.8 |
| Togo | 33 | 2024 | 62.9 | 63.2 | 62.7 | 0.5 |
| Liberia | 34 | 2024 | 62.3 | 63.6 | 61.0 | 2.6 |
| Cote d'Ivoire | 35 | 2024 | 62.1 | 64.3 | 60.2 | 4.1 |
| Congo, Dem. Rep. | 36 | 2024 | 62.1 | 64.2 | 60.0 | 4.3 |
| Sierra Leone | 37 | 2024 | 62.0 | 63.7 | 60.2 | 3.5 |
| Niger | 38 | 2024 | 61.4 | 62.4 | 60.5 | 1.9 |
| Burkina Faso | 39 | 2024 | 61.3 | 63.4 | 59.1 | 4.3 |
| Benin | 40 | 2024 | 61.0 | 62.4 | 59.5 | 2.9 |
| Guinea | 41 | 2024 | 60.9 | 62.1 | 59.7 | 2.4 |
| Mali | 42 | 2024 | 60.7 | 62.2 | 59.3 | 2.9 |
| Somalia, Fed. Rep. | 43 | 2024 | 59.0 | 61.6 | 56.5 | 5.1 |
| Lesotho | 44 | 2024 | 57.8 | 60.4 | 55.0 | 5.4 |
| South Sudan | 45 | 2024 | 57.7 | 60.7 | 54.8 | 6.0 |
| Central African Republic | 46 | 2024 | 57.7 | 59.6 | 55.5 | 4.1 |
| Chad | 47 | 2024 | 55.2 | 57.2 | 53.4 | 3.8 |
| Nigeria | 48 | 2024 | 54.6 | 54.9 | 54.3 | 0.6 |
Sources
- World Bank WDI: life expectancy at birth, total (CC BY 4.0; accessed 2026-09-14)
- World Bank WDI: life expectancy at birth, male (CC BY 4.0; accessed 2026-09-14)
- World Bank WDI: life expectancy at birth, female (CC BY 4.0; accessed 2026-09-14)
- World Bank country and region metadata (World Bank dataset terms; accessed 2026-09-14)
Compare all regions or read about definitions and limitations.
Life expectancy at birth describes population mortality in a given year. It is not a prediction of how long an individual will live. Independent of the World Bank.