Life expectation at birth by sex in United Kingdom

United Kingdom: Life expectation at birth by sex was 83.21 in 2023. ▲ Rising

Latest (2023)
83.21
Change on year
up 0.2%
World rank
49th
of 236 countries
All-time high
83.28
in 2019
All-time low
58.85
in 1922
Years of data
102
1922–2023

Life expectation at birth by sex in United Kingdom, 1922–2023

020406080192219722023

Source: Our World in Data.

Analysis

United Kingdom recorded 83.21 for life expectation at birth by sex in 2023.

The figure is up 0.2% on the previous year and up 0.5% over ten years.

Over the whole period, life expectation at birth by sex in United Kingdom peaked at 83.28 in 2019 and was at its lowest, 58.85, in 1922.

That places United Kingdom 49th out of 236 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the top quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 102 years of available data.

Life expectation at birth by sex in United Kingdom, year by year

Annual values for Life expectation at birth by sex in United Kingdom, 1922 to 2023.
Year Value Change
1922 58.85 —
1923 61.18 +4.0%
1924 59.98 -2.0%
1925 60.34 +0.6%
1926 61.5 +1.9%
1927 60.92 -0.9%
1928 61.91 +1.6%
1929 59.6 -3.7%
1930 62.86 +5.5%
1931 62 -1.4%
1932 62.42 +0.7%
1933 62.49 +0.1%
1934 63.25 +1.2%
1935 63.94 +1.1%
1936 63.84 -0.2%
1937 63.87 +0.0%
1938 65.39 +2.4%
1939 65.8 +0.6%
1940 63.51 -3.5%
1941 64.11 +0.9%
1942 66.74 +4.1%
1943 66.67 -0.1%
1944 67.57 +1.3%
1945 68.32 +1.1%
1946 68.63 +0.5%
1947 68.79 +0.2%
1948 70.62 +2.7%
1949 70.3 -0.5%
1950 70.92 +0.9%
1951 70.68 -0.3%
1952 72.11 +2.0%
1953 72.37 +0.4%
1954 72.81 +0.6%
1955 72.77 -0.0%
1956 73.1 +0.5%
1957 73.32 +0.3%
1958 73.49 +0.2%
1959 73.6 +0.1%
1960 73.88 +0.4%
1961 73.65 -0.3%
1962 73.79 +0.2%
1963 73.72 -0.1%
1964 74.56 +1.1%
1965 74.58 +0.0%
1966 74.5 -0.1%
1967 75.09 +0.8%
1968 74.71 -0.5%
1969 74.79 +0.1%
1970 74.99 +0.3%
1971 75.33 +0.5%
1972 75.07 -0.3%
1973 75.29 +0.3%
1974 75.45 +0.2%
1975 75.71 +0.3%
1976 75.67 -0.0%
1977 76.14 +0.6%
1978 76.07 -0.1%
1979 76.19 +0.2%
1980 76.57 +0.5%
1981 76.88 +0.4%
1982 76.94 +0.1%
1983 77.22 +0.4%
1984 77.55 +0.4%
1985 77.36 -0.2%
1986 77.67 +0.4%
1987 77.96 +0.4%
1988 78.06 +0.1%
1989 78.08 +0.0%
1990 78.5 +0.5%
1991 78.61 +0.1%
1992 78.96 +0.4%
1993 78.77 -0.2%
1994 79.31 +0.7%
1995 79.19 -0.2%
1996 79.4 +0.3%
1997 79.58 +0.2%
1998 79.71 +0.2%
1999 79.76 +0.1%
2000 80.19 +0.5%
2001 80.42 +0.3%
2002 80.51 +0.1%
2003 80.48 -0.0%
2004 81.05 +0.7%
2005 81.19 +0.2%
2006 81.47 +0.3%
2007 81.61 +0.2%
2008 81.67 +0.1%
2009 82.19 +0.6%
2010 82.33 +0.2%
2011 82.72 +0.5%
2012 82.67 -0.1%
2013 82.77 +0.1%
2014 82.98 +0.3%
2015 82.73 -0.3%
2016 82.87 +0.2%
2017 82.98 +0.1%
2018 82.94 -0.0%
2019 83.28 +0.4%
2020 82.4 -1.1%
2021 82.67 +0.3%
2022 83.02 +0.4%
2023 83.21 +0.2%

United Kingdom compared with similar countries

  • United Kingdom's 83.21 is above the median for high income countries, which is 83.13, 1.0× the median. (85 countries reporting)
  • United Kingdom's 83.21 is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 82.57, 1.0× the median. (56 countries reporting)

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1920s 60.53 58.85 61.91 8
1930s 63.59 62 65.8 10
1940s 67.53 63.51 70.62 10
1950s 72.52 70.68 73.6 10
1960s 74.33 73.65 75.09 10
1970s 75.59 74.99 76.19 10
1980s 77.43 76.57 78.08 10
1990s 79.18 78.5 79.76 10
2000s 81.08 80.19 82.19 10
2010s 82.83 82.33 83.28 10
2020s 82.82 82.4 83.21 4

Countries ranked near United Kingdom

  1. 46 Taiwan 83.61 compare
  2. 47 Costa Rica 83.42 compare
  3. 48 Qatar 83.37 compare
  4. 50 Isle of Man 83.13 compare
  5. 51 Chile 83.08 compare
  6. 52 Estonia 83.04 compare

See the full ranking of 236 places →

More population data for United Kingdom

All data for United Kingdom →

Frequently asked questions

What is life expectation at birth by sex in United Kingdom?
Life expectation at birth by sex in United Kingdom was 83.21 in 2023, according to Our World in Data.
What is the highest life expectation at birth by sex recorded in United Kingdom?
The highest recorded value was 83.28 in 2019.
What is the lowest life expectation at birth by sex recorded in United Kingdom?
The lowest recorded value was 58.85 in 1922.
How does United Kingdom rank for life expectation at birth by sex?
United Kingdom ranks 49th out of 236 countries with data for 2023.
Is life expectation at birth by sex rising or falling in United Kingdom?
Over the last ten years it is up 0.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this United Kingdom data come from?
The figures come from Our World in Data, published as part of Life expectation at birth by sex. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 102 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Life expectation at birth by sex in United Kingdom. Statizoid, drawing on Our World in Data. Retrieved 11 November 2026, from https://population.statizoid.com/stat/life-expectation-at-birth-by-sex/united-kingdom/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://population.statizoid.com/stat/life-expectation-at-birth-by-sex/united-kingdom/">Life expectation at birth by sex in United Kingdom</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Life expectation at birth by sex
Source
Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
236 places, 18,722 data points, 1751–2023
Last refreshed